Origins
by Melby7777
Summary: It all starts with the birthing of a half vampire, who grows to be a prominent part of the immortal world. Prequel to Forbidden
1. Chapter 1

**Origins  
author:**Melby7777**  
Summary:** It all starts with the birthing of a half vampire, who grows to be a prominent part of the immortal world. His first friend spreads this story out, allowing it to grow. The two bring out the life to which we know today, but this is the story of where it all started in the vampire and werewolf wars.**  
Disclaimer:** Akatsuki is owned by Masashi Kishimoto**  
Note:** Prequel to **Forbidden**. Basically, I wanted a backstory for the rest of Akatsuki back in **Forbidden**, so it's how everything started! Yeah! Also, I believe I stated somewhere it'd start somewhere in like 1134 or something, but I didn't want such a HUGE timeline, so I shortened it and now it all starts in about the 1300s… OH JUST READ IT!

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October 1305****  
Undisclosed Location****  
Europe**_

The sun shone brightly into the courtyard, illuminating every knife that had been embedded into the wooden posts placed about for the training. In the center of the yard, a small porcelain skinned boy stands, having just landed gracefully after throwing those very knives into their targets.

Just out of the reach of the scorching light, the head vampire nods in approval. "The boy shows great aptitude for only a four year old…"

"He has been training for three years, sir…" A timid woman—the only human for miles it seemed—responds softly, watching the boy over the vampire's shoulder.

The elder bloodsucker hums in response. "You should be proud of the boy, my dear." He says, taking only a second to glance at the human. "He is your son, after all."

"Father, is it really necessary to have my son work so hard?" The redheaded vampire beside the human demands, stepping forward to glare at the back of the clan leader in case he were to turn again and be able to see his anger.

The head vampire only chuckles, watching the redhead's son out in the courtyard go about picking up the knives for another attempt—one that will undoubtedly be perfect as well. "You seem to think it unwise to let a half vampire train, my son… what do you think, Chiyo?"

A second woman—this one obviously vampiric—jumps lightly in surprise. She stares at her husband for a moment before looking out at the little redhead again. "Sasori is… very skilled, but still holds the same needs as humans."

As though the boy could hear his name, Sasori turns to look at the group of adults as though expecting to be called in. When none of them made a move, he turns back to the posts and throws another knife, swiftly hitting his target.

"He will be five next month, father…" Sasori's father states, moving to stand beside the other man. "Surely you'll let him rest on his birthday?"

"Sasori may do as he wishes on that day, as long as he's back to training on the next." Without even looking to the others, the clan leader turns to leave. "If you'll excuse me, I have to tend to the wolves; one of the younger ones is acting up again, and may need more of a punishment than being sent to the fields."

They watch him leave in silence, all hoping with pity that it wasn't the young werewolf from the year before again.

"Mother, you can't really want Sasori to train on his birthday." The man turns then, staring at his venom mother with hope.

Chiyo only shakes her head. "I don't want Sasori to be like this, but if it is what he wants…" She lets her sentence hang, not sure if she should go on.

Sasori's mother moves to the court yard, her immediate presence in the sunlight alerting Sasori to stop in his movements. "Sweetheart, it's time for a nap…" She calls, moving further towards her panting son.

His father watches the two from his place in the shade, unhappy with being forced to only watch them out in the warm light.

Sasori had been born to a vampire father and human mother, something that had never been done before. Surely the boy and his parents would have perished if it had not been for his father's venom mother. Chiyo, who cared deeply for her supposed son, had considered herself lucky she was married to the head vampire. Her husband had relented and allowed the human his vampiric son impregnated to live, along with what many of them had called the "abomination".

Vampires were meant to drink the blood of a human, not mate with one. The very thought of Sasori had turned many of the vampires against their elder leader, but not for very long. He had proposed a proposition, one with which they found to be enlightening.

Sasori may have been an accident, but the head bloodsucker turned it into that of something worth having: experimentation. Of course, they never touched Sasori. They merely watched and trained the boy once he was capable of standing up right on his own.

It was like the breading of the werewolves all over again—only this time, the vampires were testing to see the limits of the vampire blood in a half human. It was found that Sasori required blood like the vampires, but could stand in the sunlight like a mortal being. Furthering this discovery, the boy was like a human, in that he did need rest, but his endurance matched that of any vampire born from a venomous bite. He was a truly remarkable creature, aging as a human would, but growing to be like the vampires of his clan.

Of course, his test results were far better than the werewolf mating experiment had been; one of the head vampire's greatest advisors had come up with the idea. Werewolves were merely ghastly creatures in the form of a wolf, none of them even remotely human anymore. Of course, the werewolves came about just as the vampires had, though they never started out with human appearance—the demons never understood how that had happened in the process of creating the two branches of other immortals. They had always been originally mindless, once-human wolves. The werewolves seemed to be a lost cause when they'd begun killing and attacking one another in fits of rage, but once one of the beasts bit a human and turned it into about half of what they were, the demons figured they were getting somewhere with the animals.

After a while, they'd brought down the beastly characteristics to only show once a month—incidently, the night of the full moon. The rest of the moon cycle, werewolves looked just as human as the vampires did. However, they were weak, which brought the vampires to take them in as servants, and that was where the demons gave up on working out their creations.

When the head vampire's advisor told him of his theory, they put it to test. By mating together two werewolves, who had been bitten and brought into this life from mortality, they created what they called the "pureblood" werewolves. The only strange thing about these purebloods was their skin complexion—they were born blue.

Not wanting to create too many unnaturally colored creatures, the vampires didn't continue this werewolf mating tests and left the five blue wolves to grow and see where'd that would take them in testing. Their complexion remained a wonderful shade of blue, but they changed just like the other wolves, and acted like normal humans. The test was put to rest, and the purebloods were left alone.

Until one of them had acted out.

It was only a year ago, in 1304, when test subject "Kisame Hoshigaki" had caused an uproar in his ward, forcing not only the elite vampires down to the experimentation halls, but the head vampire himself. Though it was uncertain what had caused this fit of rage, Kisame had killed his fellow purebloods and was sentenced by the clan leader himself to work in the fields like the rest of the wolves.

Kisame went quietly.

It was often that many of the vampires who were far below the head vampire to pity the lone blue wolf, but none knew just how brutal their leader could be. He hadn't just sentenced Kisame there at only five years of age, he'd personally beaten the young immortal to near death before his advisors pulled him off the crying boy and gave him the idea of just sending him to work with his brethren.

The boy was six now, only a year older than Sasori, and the half vampire's father could only hope Kisame hadn't done something in the short span of a year to call for the clan leader's spite to be taken to that level again.

With a look to his venom mother, it was fairly obvious that Chiyo too worried for the little wolf as well.

"Father, I don't want to take a nap right now." Sasori's voice broke through his father's thoughts, bringing him to full attention again. The small redhead was held in his mother's arms, staring at his vampire parent with half lidded eyes, one arm around his mother's neck.

A smile grew on Sasori's dad's lips. "You've been training hard; I think you need a rest, son."

Sasori sighs, looking to his venom grandmother for some sort of support. Chiyo only grins and shakes her head, turning to leave through the shadowed halls to find her husband.

Chiyo didn't look for very long, finding her husband in a darkened chamber, lit only by the light of candles, with two other leeches and three wolves. Two of the wolves stood before the head vampire, holding the smaller werewolf between them, obviously having been the ones to bring him in as the sun was still high in the sky.

Kisame stared at the ground, a blank look to his cerulean face.

"Is it true then, Kisame? You called your superior wolf a bastard when he ordered you to another area of the field?" Chiyo flinches at the tone her husband uses, but does not look away from the poor wolf before her.

Slowly, the six year old looks up at the bloodsucker, looking him in the eye despite regulations. "With all due respect, I was only returning the favor when he called me a bitch." A toothy grin grows on the pureblood's lips. "And I'm sure it's obvious that I am not a female, nor am I a dog."

The head vampire smacks the boy across the face, a resounding sound of skin on skin contact in the room being the only indication as he'd moved so quickly. "You'll find that you're very much a dog when the moon shines tonight, mutt."

Kisame only chuckles. "How can I be a mutt when I'm considered a pureblood…?" His voice was soft and directed to the floor, but all of them could hear it. Chiyo looks away, the sound of her husband pushing the small child to the floor with his foot letting her know it wasn't too bad of a hit.

"Send him to the box; he won't have anything to attack but himself tonight, so I hope he's prepared for some burning scars." With that, the clan leader strides from the room, pulling Chiyo along with him.

Looking back at the blue wolf, Chiyo holds her breath as she watches the two werewolves on either side pull him to his feet before dragging the grinning child away.


	2. Chapter 2

_**April 1307  
Undisclosed Location  
Europe**_

Sasori sighs, letting the knives drop from his hands. The sun had gone down forever ago, the initial setting of the sun allowing his father to join him in his training. It was truly aggravating that his father figured he had to go easy on the small redhead—Sasori wanted a real challenge.

"If you're not going to take me seriously, I think we should stop for the night." Sasori calls, and much to his relief, his father agrees. In a flash of movement, the man came to his son's side, smiling softly down at him. "You never try to really hurt me…"

His dad chuckles, the larger and colder hand falling upon his head to pat it like he usually did. "I don't want to hurt you, son…"

Sasori doesn't mind, not really. If his father cared too much to really hurt him, then so be it. He couldn't change someone else's opinion. Mother always said to keep an open mind and try not to judge others on their thoughts.

"Your mother should have something ready for you then, Sasori; you must be starving." He took the hand his father held out to him with a roll of his eyes. Sasori didn't _need_ someone to guide him through the clan home—he'd figured the place out months ago. But he didn't want to make his father upset—whether it would have been sadness or anger, Sasori didn't know, nor did he want to.

Some things had changed in Sasori over the past year, giving the clan an idea that the research done upon the half vampire was incomplete. Sasori was maturing faster than a normal human child would have, and was gaining cravings for real food instead of just the usual vampiric diet of blood.

Now, his parents didn't mind. They wanted Sasori to grow up in a loving environment where he didn't have to worry about his fellow vampires poking and prodding him for new information on his being half vampire and half human. It was truly something the others wanted to learn, but his parents refused to turn their son into a test subject.

And being that Sasori's father _was_ the head vampire's venom son—though he was truly Chiyo's son, _she_ was married to the leader and therefore made the redhead his son as well—the rest of the clan couldn't disobey these refusals and kept to their own musings.

However, Sasori's parents had started acting strange in the last week alone. April will have come and gone, and the little redhead and his mother would continue to age amongst the vampires, making it just another month to live through. Yet their actions were starting to grate on the little boy's nerves.

Why were they reacting to the head vampire with caution? Sasori was only six, but he could see the signs. They weren't as calm as usual in the presence of his grandfather; something was wrong.

"Ah son, there you are!" Speaking of the head vampire, Sasori swiveled around to face his grandfather with a blank expression, feeling the tension rise in his father's posture. "And you have little Sasori; he has truly become the wonderful prodigy in the clan, hasn't he?"

Oh yes, something was terribly off about his father—and now that the little half vamp could see, his grandfather had a strange note to his tone as well.

"Yes father, is there something you needed?" Sasori looks up at his dad, surprised to find that his fangs were bared—something Sasori knew meant to mean a vampire was either hungry or very angry.

Considering there was no reason for his father to not have gotten any blood lately, Sasori immediately assumed the latter.

The vampire leader chuckles lightly, gesturing for the two redheads to come with him. "I wish to simply speak with the both of you! And your wife of course—though she's already waiting for us."

Suddenly, Sasori had a strange feeling of dread wash over him. He didn't want to go with his grandfather; it didn't seem right. His father seemed to have similar feelings, but…

How can you say no to the head bloodsucker of an entire clan?

"Alright…" The boy bit his lip, staring in shock at his father before finding himself being pulled in the opposite direction of their home in the clan building.

It was only a short way that the elder vampire led them before they walked back into the moonlit night. A howl somewhere in the distance told the young halfling that the fullness in the moon was enough to grant the wolves their transformation that evening. However, his thoughts weren't on the werewolves once he saw what was out in this larger courtyard.

"Mother…!" Sasori gasps just as someone grabs hold of him, the same happening to his father. There, in the middle of the courtyard, was the limp body of his very fragile and weak human mother.

Sasori's father hisses in anger to all the vampires in the courtyard. "Who did this to her?" He demands, struggling against the leech that held him in place.

"I did…" To Sasori's astonishment, his grandfather only gives a light smile to his confession. "You and your wife have been keeping me from getting what I want."

"You can't take him!" His father screams in response. "We won't let you touch Sasori!"

Sasori looks back and forth between his parents, unsure of which one he could bear to look at. His mom was lying on the dirt floor of the courtyard, beaten and bruised and, judging from the senses of his heightened nose, bleeding. His father's fangs had grown, the crimson eyes in his head seeming to glow ablaze in his anger, the moonlight shining against his porcelain skin in a way that Sasori could only describe as menacing.

His grandfather was who he finally chose to stare at. What could the head bloodsucker want with him? Sasori was only six, and he'd gone through the years of training his grandfather wanted him to. He couldn't have anything that his grandfather wanted.

"You deny me, the head vampire and leader of our clan—your own _father_ even—to have a look into the workings of a halfling such as your son." Sasori's ears burned at the booming voice of his grandfather, the ringing in them beginning when the words sunk in. He wanted to look _inside_ of Sasori? "Sasori could be one the greatest creatures ever created, or the worst of all atrocities and be placed into the same category as a pureblood werewolf, yet you show no concerns as to what your son is capable of? He could very well be the downfall to my clan and everything we've all worked to strive for, yet you hold off our experimentations for what? _Love_ for the little halfling?"

Sasori's ears were still ringing when his father hissed in response. "Of course I love him! He's my _son_, something you obviously never cared about if you're willing to break my trust in you and _maim_ my wife!"

The cruel grin was spreading across the elder leech's face at these words. "Oh, I'll do much worse than that, my _son_…"

With a simple snap on his fingers, five vampires advanced upon Sasori's mother and, in a matter of seconds, ripped her limb from limb. Someone began to scream, only for Sasori to register that it was his own voice screaming in agony. His father yelled out as well, though his voice was cracking, grating with his pain as he fell limp to the holds of the other vampires.

His grandfather gave another snap that nearly went unheard under Sasori's shrieking calls for his mother. The ones who held his father and Sasori back had caught the sound nonetheless before pulling the two redheads closer to the carnage that was once the woman they both loved.

Without much of a fight from either of them, the bloodsuckers were able to tie the both of them to a post in the center of the field—alongside where the bloody remains of his mother were. Sasori stares in horror at the sight, finding that he was tied to the post so that no matter what he did, the only way to look away from the woman was to close his eyes.

Once Sasori's calls for his mom died down to sobs of anguish, his grandfather steps forward. "You have crossed me for the last time, my son. The sun will be up soon, and in that moment, you will die. Consider this: if you hadn't just willingly given me Sasori, he would never have had to witness his parent's death before living a long and torturous life of an experiment."

His words given, the head leech turns and begins to leave the courtyard before the other vampires left as well.

Helplessly, Sasori began to struggle against his bonds, thinking that maybe he could at least save his father. "Sasori, don't waste your time…" His dad says then, his voice rough from hissing and screaming before. He pauses, waiting for his father to continue. "These binds were made to hold any type of immortal… you're only half vampire, I don't think that makes you an immortal as well. It's hopeless…"

Stopping in his struggles all together, Sasori falls limp against the post, attempting to stare ahead without having to see his mother. It was a useless effort, but it gave him something to think about other than his father's imminent death approaching as well.

Silence falls between father and child, neither able to even speak. The moonlight had long since passed, bringing forth the light from a new orb.

"F-father…" Sasori starts, blubbering over his words. "I… I don't want you t-to go…"

A cold hand falls onto his, startling the young boy into looking over. His dad didn't look back, his crimson eyes focused to the east and waiting for the sun. "I don't either, my son…"

Tears slipped out of Sasori's brown eyes, his body convulsing with the amount of emotion taking over him. "D-don't go… please…! I don't want you to die…!"

His cries carried on, but he never once looked away from his birth father. Slowly, the crimson eyes turned to look at him instead of the oncoming sunrise.

"I love you, Sasori, my son… I only wish for one thing before I go."

"Anything…!" Sasori cries, turning his hand over to clench onto his father's.

Slowly, a small and broken smile creases at his dad's face. "Promise me you'll be strong, no matter what happens to you."

Sasori chokes on his words, stumbling in his response when it happens. The sun breaks over the horizon, its light leaking over the top of the building before them and making immediate contact with the vampire's head.

Every thought Sasori had before stopped, his answer to his father's request dying as cries erupt from his throat.

Where ever the sun reached immediately began to sizzle before the white skin began to burn. Slowly, the scent of burnt flesh was all Sasori could smell while his father's skin peeled away and turned from white to pink, red, crimson, finishing off into a yellowish brown with charred black. The bones beneath the vampire's flesh soon had contact with the burning rays, and they too were reduced to burned bits of charcoal.

Sasori didn't tear his eyes away, hoping against all odds that this was just a terrible dream and he'd wake up. Yet he never did, and soon the sunlight had fallen upon the hand he still held, the feeling of its flesh burning in his grasp, the palm of his right hand stinging from the pain. Though he didn't want to, Sasori releases the charred hand as though it were a fire he'd held, letting out a howl of pain before his cries become shrieks of grief once again.

Beyond the walls of the clan house, a blue boy lies on his back in the grass, listening to the screams of the half vampire with disinterest.

"Cry all you want; the head vampire won't care…" Kisame murmurs to himself, his shark like and true immortal teeth glazed with the blood of whoever had challenged him last night. He closes his eyes once the sunlight beats down unto him, and he welcomes the warmth to his naked skin with open arms.


	3. Chapter 3

_**July 1309  
Undisclosed Location  
Europe**_

Two months had gone by in a blur of cuts and syringes into Sasori's skin before he was forced to work in the fields. Every few days, the werewolves who were considered loyal enough to the head vampire would come and collect the half blood, taking him to the white room they mutilated him within.

Every wound would heal within twenty-four hours, yet they continued their research. Sasori never knew what they did to him while under the drugs they doped him on. He did know from overhearing them talking however that his guts would regenerate, something he'd gained from his father being a vampire no doubt. The vampires who poked and prodded at the little boy's body would always come up with new tests to make.

All test results were satisfactory to the older vampires.

The experimentation had died down in the last year, and it was now two years and three months since Sasori witnessed his parent's death. With the lack in testing and gaining of fresh air from all the drugs, Sasori was beginning to gain his old shine again. Nonetheless, he wouldn't smile at anything.

His hair regained the shine of crimson it held before, and the chocolate color in his eyes shined like no other, but the frown remained in place. Sasori fell into himself, caving and building up the emotions he wanted so desperately to shed. Working with the wolves in the fields made him even more of an outcast than he could remember and none of them would think twice of hurting a child simply because he cried.

Crying encouraged them.

The wolves would behave when the sun was down and the vampires were checking over their work, but when the sun was beating down on their backs, they'd take turns in harassing the little halfling. Though Sasori was now eight years of age, his body seemed to simply stop growing. It was strange to be so small in a group so large.

It seemed to the redhead, however, that only one of the wolves kept to himself. Though Sasori wanted to know why that blue pre-teen would huddle off on the furthest end of the field, he couldn't simply approach him. He knew the werewolves had pride to uphold, and even if that blue wolf wanted to be alone, he obviously couldn't be much different than the rest.

Sasori didn't want another person messing with him.

Despite all this, he found himself watching the lone wolf every day, the only thing retracting him from staring being the sound of the whip held by the trusted wolves. Kisame, he'd learned from the other wolves, was a pureblood—something his grandfather categorized him with when he witnessed his parent's death.

Knowing that the head vampire had considered both Sasori and this pureblood werewolf to be abominations of the world, Sasori's want to actually talk to Kisame grew with every passing day. It wasn't something he acted upon, however—it was just unrealistic for him to speak to a werewolf.

Yet, the day had come when his wishes would suddenly come true.

Falling to the dirt in the fields, Sasori sighs under his breath. He wasn't even going to bother, especially when the elder men just laughed and started kicking at him. It wasn't like it hurt Sasori—things couldn't be any worse than whatever happened in that operating room the vampires took him to.

But then the kicking stopped all too abruptly. Slowly, Sasori lifts his head to see why the wolves had stopped in their assault, and what he finds shocks him enough to actually gasp.

Standing over him was Kisame, his fists up and teeth bared at his fellow beasts. Sasori watches the blue boy as he attacks the first wolf to stand and attempt his own approach to them. A brawl breaks out between the two, a few other wolves actually doing their work stop and turn to watch as well. Climbing to his feet and holding his breath steady, Sasori watches with wide eyes.

Kisame was snarling and barking with laughter, his golden eyes alight with excitement as he thrashed his opponent to the ground. The other werewolf—who was quite clearly older and much stronger—didn't even put up a fight. Sasori found himself wincing with every punch Kisame throws, surprised that the young pureblood could ever gain such an advantage.

It suddenly made all too much sense. Kisame was alone by choice—the other wolves… _feared_ this pureblood. Looking about at the vampire's slaves, the redhead finds this fact to be confirmed. No one was helping the wolf Kisame was beating to a pulp. No one was moving as though to help him. None of them even went to get the higher-up wolves for help. Everyone just stood there staring in fear of the blue pureblood's wrath.

The sounds of Kisame's fists making contact on the face of Sasori's attacker slowly died down, alerting the halfling the blue wolf was finished. Turning back to the other boy, Sasori watches him with caution; if the other wolves feared him, then Sasori would as well.

Kisame got to his feet, breathing heavily over the limp body beneath him. His golden eyes scan the spectators, both narrowing in disgust. "_None_ of you will mess with the half human anymore."

No one responded, all staring owlishly at Kisame. Sasori felt a swelling sense of gratitude that he'd attacked the other beast for him, but something lingered in this feeling as well. Something Sasori could only describe as confusion and fear.

The pureblood casts his eyes onto Sasori, looking the slightly smaller boy over before nodding in approval. "You're okay then, half-blood?"

Sasori felt like a fish when his mouth opened but nothing came out. He didn't know how to respond to this. The wolves had always treated him as lower than all of them and not a single one seemed to consider him much more than the vampirism that flowed in his veins.

"I'll take that as a no; come with me." Kisame raises a hand, gesturing for the redhead to follow. Hesitating only a fraction of a minute, Sasori trails behind and gets the urge to hit this guy.

Who did Kisame think Sasori was? He wasn't defenseless—the beatings never bothered him before! Sasori wasn't weak and spineless, he just knew better than to get into fights with the werewolves. Yet Kisame just waltzed over and acted like Sasori needed his help.

"I don't need help from someone like you." Sasori spat, his eyes narrowing on the pureblood.

Kisame froze in place, turning to the redhead again. "Someone like me…? What do you mean—because I'm a werewolf, you won't accept my help?"

"I won't accept help from someone who thinks I'm weak." Sasori responds too quickly, taking notice to the change in his helper's posture to these words.

A bark of a laugh—though it sounded anything but happy—and Kisame was turned fully onto Sasori. "So, you believe you're not weak?"

Clicking his tongue, Sasori shook his head to remove the bangs hanging in his eyes. "I'm stronger than most vampires."

Kisame grins, the sharpness in his gleaming teeth somehow more menacing once it was directed to the halfling. "And I am stronger than the average werewolf."

Without really checking to see if the redhead followed, Kisame begins to walk away with the grin still in place. Sasori watches with blank eyes, his jaw tightening when his teeth ground together. He didn't like this blue wolf.

What had he been thinking before? Kisame couldn't be anything like Sasori! He was alone by choice, it had to be that.

Yet he still followed the other boy. Curiosity—that was the only reason he would follow, not because he wanted a _friend_.

He'd come to a stop at the edge of the field, just beside the dirt road and end of the vampire's property in the middle of this forest clearing. Kisame stood at the direct edge of the path, picking up his tools to continue work.

Sasori watches, fidgeting in place. Kisame didn't acknowledge him right away, keeping his eyes on the work at hand before finally turning to the halfling with a smirk.

"I thought you didn't want help from me…?"

Hesitating, the very thought Sasori had been harboring broke through his lips without his permission.

"I want to be friends."

Silence filled the air around them; not entirely, as the other wolves still working weren't too far from them. Kisame stares at the smaller boy, his smirk falling ever so slowly.

He eventually lets a short chuckle come, his golden eyes holding the disbelief he obviously had. "Really…? A halfling like you being friends with a pureblood like me…?"

Sasori felt his pride fall just a little to these words. He honestly couldn't see anything wrong with it—the werewolves all seemed to hate Sasori and fear Kisame, making them both outsiders in this life. What was the harm in being friends?

"My… the head vampire… when he sent me here, he told me I was like the pureblood wolves…" He wasn't too sure why he was saying this, nor how he could be like a pureblood when his own blood was a mixture of two types, yet the halfling felt it would help.

Kisame lets this belief die all too quickly. "Since when were you a failed experiment?"

The tone was icy enough to let Sasori know Kisame wasn't joking anymore. Something in the bitter voice told the redhead this may be a touchy subject for the other.

"I… when they take me away, they experiment on me…" He pauses, waiting to see if Kisame would interrupt. "I guess that means we were both at some point experiments to the vampires."

Waiting again, Sasori watches the other male in hope that this wouldn't end badly. For whatever reason, he actually _wanted_ this blue toned kid to be his friend. He would admit to it now and deny it later if Kisame acted like the rest of the wolves.

Nothing was said from either of them however. Kisame continued to stare at Sasori and the redhead would stare back. Not a single notice to what the pureblood's answer was.

Nerves began to grow in the smaller boy's stomach, but he remained composed. Kisame didn't need to know his eyes were actually frightening to the halfling—though Sasori knew he didn't need to be frightened… probably.

A small incline of Kisame's head suddenly alerted the young half-vampire to his answer, startling him greatly. Kisame gave a little grin before going back to his work, eyes occasionally glancing at the redhead, allowing the smile to grow in the silence between them.

Sasori's heart flew from its metaphorical cage. Kisame had agreed to friendship… that meant that for the first time in his life, his _existence_, Sasori had a friend.

And it felt _great_, even when the trusted wolves began to jeer at him to start working again and to leave the murderous pureblood alone. Sasori didn't care.

He had a _friend_, no matter what his past.


	4. Chapter 4

_**December 1315  
Undisclosed location  
Europe**_

"Why exactly do _we_ have to transport the slaves?" Sasori kept his head low, ears perking when the trusted wolf ahead of their little group spoke to the one at the back.

A grunt was the first response of the other werewolf, who took his time in answering. Glancing to his right, Sasori catches his best friend's eye. Kisame grins, winking down to his shorter companion. "The head vampire said it's a long journey to this other vampire clan and would take until sunup," taking a second to nod back to the wolf who'd finally answered, Sasori silently asks his question. Kisame's only answer was to shrug. "So obviously the head vampire would just send a couple of the wolves he trusts to keep an eye on the group, make sure they don't escape during their travel."

Sasori looks forward again, wondering just what were his grandfather's reasons for sending him on a slave trade as well. He knew very well that he was only working as a slave since the head vampire couldn't admit to what Sasori's relationship with him was. Sasori was an experiment, nothing more. Kisame also seemed to wonder just why the halfling was coming along as well.

It had been just over six years since the two became friends, and in those six years, the wolves grew to fear Sasori as much as they feared his pureblood best friend. Kisame had encouraged Sasori to fight back when they were younger, especially after finding out just how strong the half-vampire really was. Because of the wolves being afraid, the two were generally ignored and had to learn what was going on through higher ups, like the trusted wolves.

Of course, that didn't mean the trusted wolves actually told the two what was going on.

"Well, what I want to know," the wolf at the front of the group starts again, cutting Sasori's musings off, "is why the head vamp is sending his little _experiment halfling_ along as well. He's not a real slave."

Both he and Kisame almost straightened at this, their ears perked and ready to listen to what the answer might be.

Scoffing came from the other wolf, who'd once again decided to take his time in answering. The blue-toned wolf beside Sasori nearly started to growl at having to wait, stopping himself once the redhead shot him a look. "I think this other clan wanted to perform their own tests on him…"

Somehow, the shock didn't really register at first. Sasori had a feeling before that this other clan may be waiting to experiment on him, but he hadn't really given it much thought. Now that the idea was presented again, the redhead took his time in contemplating these words.

They would experiment on him themselves…? Well, it wasn't like he was unused to tests, so it wasn't like he should be experiencing anything different here. The real question he should be asking is whether he'd still get to work with the werewolves.

The last thing Sasori wanted was to be separated from his first and only friend. Glancing to the one in question gave the half-vampire the impression that his friend may be thinking the same thing.

"Course, I don't see what else they could do to the half-blooded freak." A snort and the sound of spitting comes from the back of their group, the rear wolf obviously thinking it was ridiculous. Sasori couldn't help but agree, his own clan having experimented as far as their minds could comprehend.

A thoughtful humming comes from the other trusted wolf, but he keeps any thoughts to himself.

Silence falls over them after this, giving Sasori time to think. Staring up at the sky above, the redhead catches sight of the nearly full moon. Kisame would be changing in two nights, and his mind would be lost to his second form as the wolf. Those nights were the only times his blue skinned friend ever willingly attacked Sasori, though it didn't actually mean Kisame wanted to.

Perhaps willingly was the wrong word; Kisame didn't have a choice in the matter, and Sasori did have the scent of human on his skin. Of course Kisame would attack. It was in the wolf's nature to attack humans.

Luckily for Sasori, the transformation never harmed him in the slightest; he could hold off his wolfish friend easily enough. He and Kisame also tried to keep the time of transforming as far from the other wolves as possible, so that the others wouldn't also attack the redhead.

It was bad enough Kisame had the need to hunt him down.

The thought of being separated from the pureblood came back soon enough, and Sasori contemplated what might happen at this other clan. Would he be with the wolves still, or would the vampires separate him from them all, therefore taking him away from Kisame? If that were to happen, then where would Sasori be? Would he simply be a prisoner to the full vampires? Or would he be treated like any other lower vampire?

Would they attempt to kill him in the experiments?

A shudder of cold fear went down Sasori's spine. He wasn't sure how to kill a half-vampire, but it had to be possible. His kind weren't common—in fact, Sasori was the first to be noted in history—but he was still half mortal. He had to have some way to be killed, like any common human.

If this clan wanted to experiment on him, what more would they find? Did they have ideas the head clan of the vampire society themselves had never thought of?

Worse, would they be willing to put the redhead on the brink of death just to learn more about his kind?

Sasori chances a glance at Kisame, hoping his friend wouldn't read his actions and therefore his thoughts. However, Kisame was intently glaring at the moon and therefore didn't even see his friend's fear in his eyes.

Sighing, Sasori looks back to his feet, watching his steps through the freezing snow that blanketed the ground. It hadn't snowed in a few days time, so perhaps it would snow again soon.

Sasori didn't mind snow too much. It was cold and wet, blankly colored and boring. Nothing special, every bit of it similar to his ancestors. Vampires were cold, though not exactly wet. Typically they were lightly colored, nearly white in their complexion due to hiding from a sun's rays and their bodies having died in the change. Some lived for so long that they tended to become boring.

Shaking his head, the halfling turns his attention to where they were headed. It didn't do too well for him to dwell on what he was only half of. Vampires were a big part of his life, but they also happened to be what destroyed his life. Snow isn't as horrible as vampires were.

On that thought, Sasori takes notice of the light beyond the trees ahead. They were reaching the edge of the forest now, and the moon's light was descending to the horizon. Morning had come and they'd only just gotten through the woods.

The group continues on in silence, walking past the barrier of trees at long last just when the sun broke through the other side of the world, bringing the sky to a pinkish tinge. Kisame grunts, catching his shorter friend's attention and nods ahead of them.

"I think that's the place…" He mutters lightly, Sasori's sensitive ears catching his words. They continue moving forward, Sasori attempting to look over the other werewolf's heads to see what Kisame could.

At long last, the building before them came into view, sitting in the middle of the large clearing. Various other werewolves—those already working for the clan here no doubt—were scatted about and pulling various piles of wood this way and that. Some stopped to watch the new crowd of slaves walk through, some spotting Sasori and murmured their inquiries to what he was.

The building itself was more like a fortress than a home for many. Brick walls surrounded the main houses, keeping any of those from the outside on the outside, large wooden doors at the front as the only allowed entrance. Sasori couldn't help wondering just what the actual building looked like when they reached the doors.

The trusted wolf in front called up to another of his kind, who answered back just as clearly. Their words though weren't registering in Sasori's running mind. Suddenly, the large doors opened wide, allowing their small group entrance.

Sasori allowed himself to look over the building in all it's glory. The walls were made by the same grey bricks as the walls they pass on their way in, high window set into the works. Black cloth hung on the other side of the glass windows, letting it be known that the sun wouldn't make it's way in to the immortals residing here. Fancy carvings were aligned into the sills, moss and vines curving their way up the sides of the building. Snow covered any horizontal surface including the ground between the outer walls and the actual fortress itself.

His breath steamed in front of his face, caught by the light of the rising sun as the group continued towards the large front doors. The wooden surface of these doors were less simple than ones of the outer walls, intricate carvings etched into the entrance and stating the name of the clan that it all belonged to.

"Uchiha…" Sasori whispers, trying the name for himself. Kisame glances down at his friend for a moment, unsure of what he was saying. It occurred to Sasori then that none of the wolves could read—why should they, considering they were nothing but slaves to the vampires. He however had six young years worth of learning under his belt and could read words when he really tried.

Flushing under his friend's gaze, Sasori pretends he hadn't said anything at all as they make their way through the large entrance to the Uchiha clan's fortress.

The wolves direct the slave group to stand in a line in the dark entrance, pushing them through another entrance to the front room of the Uchiha's home one by one. Sasori found that he and Kisame were shoved a bit more roughly than the others, but held his tongue. He couldn't afford angering anyone in their new master's presence.

Once they were all within the next room, Sasori chanced a look about. The front room was a bit lighter than the entrance hall, candles flickering in the chandelier above them. Gothic seats sat to the sides of the room and a few couches sat a bit more towards the center of the room. Wall hangings of portraits, most depicting vampiric men with crimson eyes and long dark hair, hung about the room. The fireplace set in the other side of the room burned and brought the room to an even lighter view than the candles over head would have been able.

Standing before the wolves was a man who held similar qualities to the men in the portraits; his hair was long and black, parts spiked in the back and framing his sculpted face. Crimson eyes roved over each of the werewolves in front of him, stopping when they settled on Sasori. This vampire didn't show any sign that he acknowledged who and what Sasori was, his eyes finally shifting to his right and looking over Kisame before continuing his once over of all the others.

"Welcome…" He pauses, his deep and gentle voice holding an undertone that suggested anything but. "You'll be working for me now; this is the Uchiha clan's fortress and you are expected to treat all of us with respect." His gaze turns back to Sasori then, the icy look giving the halfling another shudder of cold fear. "My name is Madara, and if any of you choose to disobey me or my family…"

He gives a low chuckle that was anything but charming. Sasori felt himself shrink at the sound, his eyes widening despite the control he fought to keep over his emotions.

"Well, let's just hope you don't do anything to _upset_ me…"


	5. Chapter 5

_**March 1320  
Outside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
Undisclosed Location  
Europe**_

It was remarkable. Kisame stares down at his legs, wonder in his eyes.

He knew it couldn't be easy to tell, but he just knew it was as he believed. Sasori was at his side, picking at the cold, wet grass that they were seated upon.

"Sasori…" Kisame whispers, gaining his best friend's attention. "I'm done."

The redheaded halfling simply stares at his friend with amusement. "And by done, you mean…?"

"Done growing…" Kisame grunts as he pulls himself to his feet, clenching his fists triumphantly. "Purebloods grow until they reach a certain age. I'm twenty-one now…"

Sasori keeps his eyes locked on his tall, lean friend, nothing betraying what emotion he may be feeling. "I don't understand."

Kisame grins down at him. "Don't you see? I'm not going to age anymore!"

"How can you tell?"

Sighing, Kisame shakes his head at his friend's lack of understanding. "I just can, I can feel it in my bones."

Sasori continued to stare blankly at the blue wolf.

Tisking in annoyance, Kisame glares in return. "I mean to say that I'll stay this way forever!"

"All immortals remain the age of which they were turned, Kisame." Sasori states simply, standing as well. Though Sasori was nineteen now, he was still a bit on the short side, especially when he stood beside Kisame. "You were born an immortal, so I don't see why you won't continue aging just as you have been since childhood."

Kisame grins at this remark. "I just know I'll stay this age forever, Sasori."

The half vampire shook his head. "You may stay this age, but I'm going to continue growing…"

"Why do you think that?" Kisame couldn't imagine why the redhead would think something so upsetting.

Sasori had that look in his eye then, one that mocked Kisame for not knowing something that he himself did. "It's fairly obvious…" Kisame shook his head, letting his friend know that he really had no idea what he meant. Letting out a snort, Sasori shakes his head. "I'm half mortal, Kisame."

Frowning, Kisame shook his own head. "But you're still a vampire."

"No, I'm completely different…" Sasori turns then, walking away from the pureblood and towards the outer walls of their masters. Kisame hesitates before following after him.

They sit back down in the wet grass, some snow from the winter before still melting in various areas of the ground. Sasori's brown eyes scanned over the snow mounds, the other werewolves ignoring the both of them completely on the other side of the field. He closes his eyes, breathing deep the moisture of the air around them.

"At least you're nothing like them, Sasori…" Kisame's words are softly spoken, but Sasori's sharp ears catch what he says none-the-less. He sighs, turning to look at his blue toned friend and nods. Kisame gives that usual toothy grin, the rows of sharp teeth gleaming brightly despite the clouded sky. "You're not cold like they are, both literally and figuratively."

Giving a laugh, Sasori smiles back—of course, his smile is less brash than Kisame's and from a distance it could appear as a grimace instead. Sasori just wasn't one to smile.

Kisame didn't blame him, with the life he lived in.

The gates open moments later, the two friends looking over in surprise to the source of the noise that broke their comforting silence. Two wolves who actually got to live within the walls exit and look about the clearing, the leaner of them catching Sasori's eye.

He says something, pointing to the outcasts before both werewolves approach. Sasori gave a soft groan, standing slowly as they came closer. Kisame watches with a scowl, knowing just what those wolves wanted.

"Come on, halfling; Madara wants to meet with you before the next test." The burlier wolf says—more of a grunt really—before spitting a wad onto the moist grass.

Sasori says nothing, simply nodding and following after the two. Kisame keeps his eyes on his small friend, attempting to at least make sure his friend is safe before he left his sight.

It was common for the trusted wolves of the Uchiha clan to come for Sasori to take him to his experimentation, though it didn't happen as often as it did back at their old masters home. Sasori often found himself wondering just what they could be testing every time and whether they were doing the same things the last clan had done to him.

He never saw much of the fortress's rooms other than the first room on the right when you enter the building. It was the main place they'd take him for the experiments, and it wasn't like there was anything more they could do. Sasori believed they'd quite honestly given up on trying to find something new.

Walking into the building and prepared to move into his experiment room, Sasori was surprised to have his arm pulled on and forced through to the front room where he'd first met Madara nearly five years ago. The room hadn't changed in the slightest, aside from the large painting of Madara himself sitting atop the fireplaces mantle.

The man in question was standing before the blazing fire, his face blank as he watched Sasori be pulled into the room. The redhead stared back just as blankly, hoping that any fear he may actually have wasn't evident in his eyes.

"Hello, Sasori Akasuna…" Madara calls, his voice hushed in a way that told the halfling he may just be holding something back.

Sasori feels his throat contract for him to gulp, a nod of his head indicating he heard the other. "Master Madara…"

A smirk grows on the Uchiha's face, though it was small and the lighting of the room simply darkened the shadow of his lips to appear larger than they were. "I trust you're doing well?"

Another nod, no words spoken this time. Sasori knew it better than to speak, his voice may crack with the tension surrounding him.

Madara chuckles. "You have no need to be afraid, Sasori."

"Then what is it that you want, Master Madara?" Sasori retorted before he could stop himself, pausing briefly to catch his breath.

The smirk is gone, but the shadow of Madara's face grew just that much more gruesome. "I don't want anything but to tell you the progress of which your testing is going…"

"Which is…?"

A hesitation, though not for a fear of the halfling. Madara would never fear Sasori, knowing very well he'd be able to take on the younger male. Waiting as patiently as he could, Sasori watches the other with weary eyes. "… I believe it's time to take things to drastic measures, Sasori."

Tension thickens in the air around them, Sasori's heart rate increasing. "Drastic…?"

An odd twinge of light shines in Madara's eyes then, his cruel smirk growing upon his lips once more. "By drastic, I mean… painful, of course." When Sasori doesn't make any indication that he understood, the smirk became that much more twister. "We'll be performing more _deadly_ tests on you, halfling."

With a snap of his cold fingers, Madara silently instructs the trusted wolves to take the now shivering half vampire away for his new research.

_**November 1323  
Inside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
Undisclosed Location  
Europe**_

His blood was smeared across the floor, glinting in the light of the candles about the walls. Sasori heaves a breath, staring with blurring vision at the sight around him.

Three long years of Madara's clan tearing open at his flesh and pulling out his organs had resulted in the redhead to lie for days inside the little room to recover from the pain. Of course, the new regimen had really been a whole other breakthrough the discovery to what Sasori was capable of. When they didn't put the young man under anesthetics to numb the pain, Sasori reacted violently. A scape into his abdomen caused the redhead to become enraged enough to attack them, which is where the hole in the wall had come from.

The wolves who got the chance to torture him had left Sasori to rot in the room when the sun had set, meaning the vampires themselves would be coming soon enough. They always came to hurt him, and Sasori couldn't help but find this night to be one of the worst times.

Over the three years, his testing hadn't done anything to help Kisame's own temper problems. The pureblood was subjected to being pinned to walls with silver just to keep him calm over what was happening to Sasori, and the werewolf still hadn't learned to "behave" himself on the subject. The vampires found him to be a nuisance and more often than not, Sasori would overhear some of the clan members talking about Madara planning to kill Kisame.

Sasori was growing more an more worried for his blue-toned friend every day.

Tonight was one of those nights that Sasori grew worried for the other man—with the sun setting, the full moon would rise and torture him more than the silver impaling his flesh. Sasori could still clearly remember the first time Kisame had changed before him when they'd first become friends; how wild his eyes had become, how much Kisame had screamed from the shift before it was forced into a howl.

Again, Sasori found himself wondering why he'd have to be subjected to this torture when his friend was under a whole other kind. The vampires were cruel bastards, and Sasori could only hope that this time as he recovered, Kisame would recover just as quickly from this moon.

The vampires hadn't come yet, which was strange in the redhead's opinion. His blood was smeared along the walls, his stomach ripped open and ready for more prodding yet they hadn't come. The venom in his veins were already beginning to work its way on the opening, rebuilding the tissue of his skin and closing the wound in a painfully slow process.

Groaning low in his throat, Sasori willing his aching arm to clutch at the regrowing flesh, wishing his body would move faster. The hole in the wall would clearly show the moon as soon as it stretched high enough in the sky, and if Sasori wasn't loosing track of time, it should be making an appearance in his line of view very soon.

Panting with a forced effort, the redhead pulled himself to a sitting position, hoping to quell the pain in his abdomen despite any attempts being futile. Another vocalization to the sensation ripped past his lips, low and hissing in the back of his throat. Sasori coughs from the unconsciously made sound, his mouth growing dry.

Light breaks through the wall, dimmer than it should have been. Sasori sneaks a glance out the hole, all pain subsiding temporarily as he gazes at the source.

The moon was red, its usual perl-white surface bleeding just as his stomach was. Breath hitching in his throat, Sasori gazes at the blood soaked moon in wonder, amazement in his honey brown eyes.

This light was… different than what Sasori was used to. Normally, the light of the full moon made him feel as though his blood was fighting to remove itself from his body and causing a horrible itch to come over his body. He would _feel_ his veins shifting and attempting to let the liquid within them escape his skin.

Yet it was this moon's light, the light of the blood moon, that settled his veins. His half mortal lifeforce was swelling in the light of the red orb in the sky, filling Sasori to the core and growing warmed than ever before. It was as though the venom of his vampiric heritage was settling and moving aside for the human within.

It was then that Sasori realized the problem, falling to his side in mute horror as the pain from his stomach shot once more through his body. A blood curling scream broke its way through him, his eyes going unfocassed and blank. The human within was in control, but that meant the venom wouldn't fix the gaping hole in his stomach.

The blood moon hung in the sky, suspended in space and time, its red gleam torturing the young halfling to feeling truly human for once in his life. It remained in its place, the planet it orbited blocking the sun's rays to effectively turn its surface to a pure red for the time being.

What hold the full moon held over the werewolves beyound Sasori's binding room was cut off for that short time. Though Kisame sat in his blue, furry, and wolfish form, his mind was that of his human counter-part. His doglike ears perked at the sound of Sasori's horrid screams, a whimper coming from the pureblood.

Helplessly, Kisame paces the hilltop, listening to the endless screams of the halfling within the vampire's fortress. His mind reeled, wondering endlessly what he could do to help the other man.

Nothing came, and when the blood moon's surface lost its purely red color, the blissful keeping of his human mind went as well. Howls reined about within the werewolves then, Kisame's own loud and sorrowful howls echoing Sasori's dwindling screaming.


	6. Chapter 6

_**June 1331  
**__**Somewhere deep in Black Forest  
**__**Holy Roman Empire  
**__**Europe**_

Five years earlier, within this very forest, two baby boys were born to the silence of the dark forest. Their mother, whom wasn't ready to take care of such precious lives, left them behind in search of her own sanctuary. She had expected the babies to die within the confines of the wilderness.

However, she hadn't counted on the wildlife to be motherly in affection to the human baby boys. Thus, her accounts of the boys dying in the forest were false.

Though they were wild children, growing under the influence of the animals, Zet and Su knew they were not like the other creatures.

Humans regularly traveled through the forest, and the twins would eventually come into contact with them. Some even returned to help teach the two everything they could. This gave the boys some level of knowledge in speaking to others without grunting or motioning.

Between the two five-year-olds, Zet was much kinder in style. His brother, Su, was easily more aggressive. Of course, being identical, the humans who returned to the forest to see them and teach words to them were unable to tell the difference between them.

Zet sat against a tree, staring up through the canopy above his head to stare at what little clouds he could see. His breathing was ragged, sweat covering his brow,

Recently, the animals who had once been family were beginning to grow hostile towards Zet and Su. Though his brother took the fighting as a challenge to finish thoroughly, Zet refused to hurt those that were once kind to him. Su called him names—though they weren't too offensive considering Su's limited vocabulary—and would laugh at him, but Zet knew his brother better than anyone else.

It hurt him just as much as it hurt Zet.

Despite loosing the creatures who regularly cared for the twins, they both found it to be a reason to actually ask the humans for shelter. However, though these humans came to check on them, these people were too flustered to take in the wild children.

This too hurt Zet, knowing he wasn't able to be loved by anyone now. Su didn't seem to mind, his own opinion being that it's better they remain to their own plains.

Case in point, Zet was growing weak. Usually, the motherly creatures would help feed the seemingly defenseless boys, but now a days… Lack in their food supplies was becoming very easy to notice to the brothers.

Su fell from the tree tops above Zet then, startling him for a moment. He'd been so lost in thought about the rumbling in his stomach that he hadn't noticed his twin up in the trees.

"How Zet?" Su inquires, his cocky grin pushing the bruises on his cheeks up to his eyes. Zet stares for a moment, a small smile working its way onto his own face.

"Good…" Zet mumbles, before really thinking about it. "Hungry." He changes his answer, moving a hand to wipe at his brow. Su frowns at this, moving closer to look questionably into his twin's eyes.

"No good…?" He takes a moment to think this over, before nodding curtly. "Need hungry."

Zet almost laughs; between the two, he was better at words, though his vocabulary wasn't much better. "Need _food_," he corrects simply.

Su nods his head, his expression turning to a determined one. "Su get." He stands back up, turning to leave the small clearing when Zet makes a noise. Pausing, Su turns back to give his brother a questioning gaze.

"No hurt animal." Su bites his lip, torn between being defiant or obeying. Zet had his reasons—he didn't like that his brother fought with those who once took care of them. He especially didn't like _eating_ them. "Please…"

This word was foreign to Su though, as he didn't like learning kind words from the man who taught them some phrases. He tilts his head to the side, giving a look of confusion. A shake of his head was his only answer when Zet didn't respond, Su turning again to leave the clearing in search of food for his brother.

Zet sighs, falling back against the tree. He knew it was no use to stop Su, but he at least hoped he could get his twin to find berries or something other than the animals for him to eat.

It was a long while later when Su returned, the sky growing dark above their sheltering trees. Su plopped down before his brother, his face void of expressions for the first time ever.

Zet stares back, unsure of what was wrong. Su looks down to the cloth that served as his covering to his privates, making Zet look down as well. His eyes widened in surprise when Su dumped the contents before them, gesturing to the berries that had toppled out.

"Eat." He states, eyes averted from the shock his twin displayed.

Zet did as told, happily munching on the berries. It was surprising that Su had actually done as he'd asked.

While he was eating, Su watched with sad eyes. The only cloth they had to wear was the ones around their waists, and it was easy to see just how much the lack in their food was affecting his brother. Zet was too thin for comfort, his body looking as though one hit would destroy him. That thought didn't sit well with Su, and he was prepared to do anything to help his twin gain the weight he himself had.

He just had to make sure Zet didn't know what he planned to do.

_**August 1332  
**__**Somewhere deep in Black Forest  
**__**Holy Roman Empire  
**__**Europe**_

Su gulps, watching the bird through the thicket of the branches. His breath was held to keep from making much noise, but he only hoped the pounding of his heart was inaudible. He clutches the make-shift spear in his hand, eyes narrowed in preparation.

That was when he leaps from his perch, shocking the bird and stabbing at it before it could make it's escape. The squelching sound of the spear going through the bird's flesh rang out, a grin breaking across Su's face. He kneels into the fairly large nest, picking up the eggs and carefully tying the three funny-shaped orbs in cloth he'd stolen from the village. He then placed the protected objects into the weaved bag he'd also taken that hung from his neck, careful to make sure they were unharmed. Finally, he picked up his spear and proceeded to climb down the tree until he was close enough to the ground to jump, the bird still hanging from the end of his weapon.

As soon as the green haired six-year-old was safely on the forest floor, Su heads in a vague direction to look for his camping grounds.

In the past fourteen months, Su had taken to studying the creatures to learn of their habits while simultaneously training to kill them. He'd even started to really pay attention to the human lessons from the man of the village—whose name he'd learned to being Ginji since he'd learned so much more on speech.

All of this was to help Zet in his hunger problems. He'd bring as much berries and fruit as he could find to his younger brother, hoping it would help him grow. The only problem was that Zet seemed to get _skinnier_ with every eating, and Ginji finally mentioned that Zet would have to eat something other than fruit from the forest.

Zet wasn't happy to know he really did need to eat the animals who were once kind to him. Su felt the need to gloat at his brother, but held himself back when he saw just how much this bothered Zet. He remained silent during that lesson with Ginji, pouting sadly at the news while Su listened intently to Ginji.

Su was determined all the same to help his brother back to health. Ginji had taught a few things to him, like the eggs of birds can be cracked open and eaten after cooking it over a fire. Su didn't have too much trouble with this, and Zet was fine with eating unborn birds more than eating the birds that Su brought back.

He of course made Zet eat the meat of the animals he killed.

Shaking his head, Su pushed onward through a thicket of trees, letting his thoughts on his twin's condition drift off as he finally made it back to their self acclaimed home.

Zet was seated with his back against the tree he'd always sat before, his eyelids drooping slightly as he stared up at the branches overhead. His green hair was darker than usual, the grease of his sweat coating the locks. Su stares at him for a moment before stepping fully into the clearing. His bare foot came down upon a small branch, the crack of it snapping alerting his twin to his a presence and making him jump just a bit in surprise.

The twin brothers keep their eyes locked together for a moment, Zet's eyes finally directing their attention to the thick woven bag around Su's neck. It was an unspoken question between them, and Su nods his head in answer, gesturing to the bird still hanging from his weapon. Zet's stiff shoulders slump in response, the tension he held disappearing just as quickly.

As swiftly as he could, Su makes his way over to the now pouting boy, plopping down beside him and gently putting the bag down at his own side. Breaking eye contact with his little brother, Su moves to begin building the fire he'd need to cook the bird meat and eggs he'd gathered.

Zet watches in silence, his eyes tracing his brother's movements with little to no care as to what would be the result. A small fire begins to crackle before them, the heat causing Zet to hitch his breath, sweat poring out from his skin in effect. It was unbearably warm that day, and Su moves to open his bag quickly, taking out the secure eggs and a metal sheet. He places the metal over the fire, his other hand working to remove the eggs from the cloth and breaking their shell on the edge of the metal, the contents spilling out in the center of the sheet. He does this again with the other two eggs before settling the sheet of metal on sticks that support it above the fire.

"How are Zet…?" Su tries, his voice soft as he begins to cut into the bird with a knife he took from his bag. Zet remains silent, watching his brother cut the outer parts of the bird from the rest of it's body. Su glances over at him, giving him a questioning look. "Zet is hungry, yes?"

Zet sighs, looking away from his brother with sad eyes. "You don't have to do this…"

Su hesitates in cutting off a bit of meat then, his shoulders rigid. "Why Zet say that?"

"Because you should just let me die…"

Su glares at his brother for these words, a scowl gracing his lips and a growl erupting from his throat. "Zet is stupid… Su will always take care of brother. Always."

Zet lets himself chuckle, the sound coming out less cheery than it should ever be. Su nearly drops his knife, his anger subsiding to make way for the sorrow he was suddenly feeling.

"Su does not want Zet to leave Su…" He whispers, letting his head droop. Zet whips his head around, staring in surprise at his twin. "Su wants… Su wants Zet to be by Su's side forever…"

Gulping the lump that had formed in his throat, Zet watches as his brother moves back to cutting the bird up. Su had begun to mumble nonsense under his breath, the words sounding angry and Su's eyes were hard. But Zet could tell that he wasn't really angry for what he'd said, because Su's cutting was weaker than it was a minute ago. Sharp and precise, but weaker still.

Zet shifts his weight, leaning towards his brother slowly. Su looks up at this, his hateful eyes changing back to the sadness again. "I am sorry, Su… forget what I said."

Su keeps his eyes on his twin, the scowl slowly disappearing as well. "Zet will eat what Su gives?"

Giving a small chuckle to his brother's broken speech, Zet nods. "Yes, I will…"

This answer brings a new light to his twin's eyes, and Su grins that same cocky grin as before. Zet tries a small smile in return, watching again as Su goes back to cutting the bird up. His cutting was strong once more, the grin remaining in place on his face. Zet frowns, looking away from his happy brother.

It wasn't easy for Zet to say this; he wanted to refuse to eat meat, but his brother… if it made Su happy, then Zet will eat the meat.


	7. Chapter 7

_**May**__** 1329  
**__**Outside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Kisame scowls at his friend. "You're crazy…"

"No, you are." Sasori shoots right back, returning the glare just as heatedly. "If you don't get out now—"

"If I leave, you'll die…!" Kisame tries, his voice wavering in his worry. "How can you suggest such a thing?"

Sasori hesitates. "Kisame, I want you to be safe."

"I am safe, it's you who is in danger here!" The pureblood lets a growl begin to erupt from his throat. "I'm not leaving without you."

Sasori scoffs, rolling his eyes. "You're crazy for staying, Kisame." He let's himself pout, leaning back against the wall they always sat against. "The vampires will be leaving for the night, and the wolves are the only ones keeping us in check."

"Where do you suppose I'd go if you just sent me away, Sasori?" Kisame demands, scowling beside himself. His eyes turn to the clouded sky, the dark clouds threatening to pour their load upon the two. "I mean, suppose we could over power the trusted wolves—"

"We can, and we will." Sasori snaps, shooting a second glare at the blue man. "Don't pretend you and I aren't strong, Kisame."

Pausing for a moment, Kisame stares back at his friend. Then, with a long sigh, he shakes his head incredulously. "We may be strong Sasori, but there are more of them and only two of us."

Sasori frowns further, a noise suspiciously like a held back hiss rising from him. "Not if we trick them!"

"Trick them how? I've had little to no education, and you only had six years worth of learning." Sasori prepared to protest, but Kisame shushed him. "Just give up with it, we can't leave, Sasori…"

"But…" He pauses, staring off into the distance, his face softening. "You can, and you will. The wolves shouldn't be too hard to trick. They're probably about as educated as us."

Kisame hesitates, unsure if he should say anything at all. Sighing he says, "well, I… if you have a plan, we'll do it."

Sasori let's a grin cross his lips, brown eyes shooting back to gaze into Kisame's. "I'm happy to hear we're on the same page."

The pureblood shakes his head then. "Only if you can come with me, then we'll do it."

Frowning again, Sasori takes a calming breath. "Alright; if for whatever reason I can't leave in the end, you'll have to go on without me."

"Not going to happen, Sasori." Kisame replies confidently, his signature toothy grin bursting at his lips.

_**That Night  
**__**The Forest Around**__** Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

He was already regretting it.

Sasori's plan had been to simply sneak off in the middle of the night. However, the wolves seemed to have caught onto their plans midday and ambushed them within the woods. Though the moon was half way to being full again, the light wasn't enough to break through the tall trees and therefore made the darkness of the forest that much greater.

Kisame ran blindly alongside Sasori, the sounds of the trusted wolves heaving breaths behind them. He knew it had been a bad idea, but the halfling had convinced him somehow. Kisame was starting to think he hadn't even tried in the beginning anyway and Sasori knew that.

Whatever it was, that was the past. Currently, as the pureblood was running with his best friend from the people who helped oppress the two for the better parts of their lives, he really needed to keep both eyes on the trees he could possibly run into and their predators that gave chase to make sure they never did catch up.

Sasori gives a huffing laugh—a short chortle if nothing else—and Kisame spares him a quick glance. "Why are you laughing?" He calls, though the level of noise was really unnecessary.

Grinning, Sasori glances to his friend and catches his eye. "I want you to go on, even if I don't follow right away!"

Kisame nearly stumbles at the words. "What are you—"

"Just go on!" With this statement, Sasori immediately skids to a stop and turns to their chasers, Kisame stumbling to do the same. Sasori glares back at him, short fangs extending from his teeth. "Go!"

Hesitantly, the pureblood turns to continue on, his eyes trained on the redhead. Biting his bottom lip, Kisame fights the urge to argue—with the soft light that barely broke through the canopy above, Sasori's eyes shone the crimson color only a full-venom vampire could have. Kisame allowed himself to believe it was just a trick on his eyes before he finally took to Sasori's orders.

"I'll come back for you, Sasori! One of these days, expect to see me again!" He calls for a final word, hoping that this wouldn't be the final goodbye between them. Sasori doesn't reply or turn back around, but Kisame knew he'd heard him.

Running through the trees once more, Kisame never looks back either. The screams that reached him were enough to tell him Sasori wasn't harmed and very well could be following at this moment.

Once out of the thicket of trees, Kisame lets himself rest. The sounds of the branches swaying in the wind was all he could hear, and for those few minutes of near silence, Kisame found it to be comforting. Leaning against one of the thicker trees, he catches his breath and allows that moment to think on the soft breeze around him. The lack in noise suddenly became too much, and he hoped to hear someone approach soon; he stiffens when his mind starts to play tricks with him. Yet, as Kisame sat against the tree, no amount of sound coming from any direction, the hopefulness in him that his best friend would come faded with the wind.

The sky began to lighten when he finally fell asleep against his own free will, his dreams plagued with Sasori's death at the hands of Madara.

_**The Next Day  
**__**Inside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Madara glares at the fallen redhead before him. "You thought you could run?" Sasori doesn't respond. "You thought you could _save_ the pureblood scum?" Again, no response came. "Do you understand the repercussions this will hold over you?" Sasori doesn't even move at this question. "Expect to be tortured every day you live from now on, Sasori… and know that when we find that pureblood mutt, he'll die in your place."

These final words got the response Madara had been looking for; Sasori's fingers twitch against the floor, his face turning from the stone ground to glance up at the vampire. His brown eyes were dead to the world, blank and dark as they stared up at the Uchiha clan's leader. Though he laid on the floor, broken and bleeding, Madara could see the defiance in the depths of those eyes, the way his jaw tightened ever so slightly.

The sight sickened Madara, who lashes out quick as a flash. The trusted wolves who hovered nearby nearly jumped in surprise, the other vampires flinching from the sound of Sasori's skull cracking. Gazing down at the newest gash upon the halfling's face, Madara nods and turns to the vampires within the room. "Take him away…"

Silently they obey, Madara nodding the wolves back out to watch the others of their kind. He moves to the archway to exit the room, pausing at the doorway to look back at the broken half-blood.

Sasori was being pulled at his ankles from the room, but his eyes—one bruised over and the other glazed in blood—were trained on Madara. The head of the clan stares back, his jaw tightening the same as Sasori's had before. He couldn't believe the little half-blood's defiance; there was something about how Sasori looked at him that caused his veins to run warm and scare the venom within his bloodstream.

That something was beginning to think that Sasori would have to be disposed of soon…

_**September 1330  
**__**Inside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Sometimes he wondered why he even tried anymore. His thoughts were pretty useless these days, and the only thing he had to look forward to was his daily torture—which had already grown quite old. Sasori believed they were running out of ideas on what to do to him.

He was also beginning to believe he lost a bit too many brain cells the last time he saw them. They spoke in strange blurred ways now, and Sasori didn't know if he just couldn't decipher words anymore or if they were actually speaking another language. Were his thoughts even in that language? What was he thinking in now?

Rarely were there anything but Uchiha clan vampires in his room to attempt to bring him to near death. Sometimes he saw rats and took a moment to think of why they were disgusting. Other times he saw spiders and beetles crawling around. One time he thought he saw Kisame in his peep whole of the wall, but woke to realize he was dreaming again.

Sasori's dreams were usually the same thing—the day he'd helped Kisame leave. He wondered if that was really worth all of this. Kisame was safe and hopefully alive and well; he was rotting away in a room probably riddled with germs and waiting for that pureblood to come up on his promise.

He was beginning to doubt that promise Kisame made. Or maybe he never believed it anyway.

Usually he wondered what was happening in the world, if anything than to just stop thinking of that blue toned idiot. He didn't need to think of depressing things, though really he wasn't exactly entitled to think of anything else. When that thought occurs to him, he normally begins to laugh hysterically, if only to keep from weeping. It didn't really help, because tears would begin to pour from his eyes at these points. He should probably stop laughing to keep from crying.

Sasori once thought of his parents. Once being the keyword. Mainly because it had happened when they were torturing him and the laughter he erupted in only made them tear out his vocal cords. It took weeks for those to grow back.

Madara never visits anymore. Sasori can't think for sure if this is a good thing or not. He would like to say it is, but if Madara ever did come then Sasori knew it'd be the day he would finally leave this world. Sasori figures that if he thinks of that day to come, he's at least thinking positive.

Dieing would be better than this.

His wounds never really had time to heal anymore. They were normally ripped back open by the same time the next day. Sasori at least found his blood to be useful in drawing on the walls to keep from being bored—he quickly grew bored of that within the first week however, and the crude drawings were all of a wolf he imagined was blue instead of red.

Sasori's sight wasn't much better than his hearing now that he thought about it; there was someone before him and he didn't even notice it before a piece of metal struck him. The pain was horrid, but so familiar by now that Sasori didn't even scream. This person was saying something, but as he couldn't comprehend anything at the moment, Sasori knew nothing of what was said.

Through his blurred vision, Sasori watched the blob of a vampire move to strike him again. That's when Sasori allowed himself to move without thinking on it. In the back of his mind, a comprehending thought said something about venom in the fangs, but Sasori didn't dwell on that too much—his weak arm was pulling this vampire to him with ease and pressing the others face into his neck.

The chill that ran throughout his warm blood was startling at first, but Sasori's body eased into it all. Of course, venom—his mind was thinking of it, and there it was. He was pushing the other man from him, who was yelling something that quickly formed to words by the end of his sentence in Sasori's mind.

"—lf-blood is changing!" He calls, the blob of his form clearing just like his words. Sasori's foggy mind begins to clear all at once, his sight clearer than he ever remembered it being.

In fact, everything was much clearer and sharper than ever before. He realized a second to late what he'd done—other vampires were swarming into the room at this point. Hissing at all of them, Sasori stood quick and tall, his joints fixing themselves with ease and the wounds closing about his body. The other men in the room hesitate, watching him with caution.

Sasori moves faster than ever before, taking them all out before any could comprehend what happened. Running from the room, Sasori ran at the double door entrance he'd seen too many times to care for anymore, bursting out of the fortress with calls of distress behind and ahead of him.

Just as quickly as he'd taken out those vampires, the now completed vampire charges off the premises, taking next to no time to run through the forest and away from the Hell he'd lived in for far too long.

With venom in his veins, Sasori moves through the night, no light from the new moon to hold him back.


	8. Chapter 8

_**June**__** 1333  
**__**Inside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Madara glares down at the vampires kneeling before him. "And you're saying that you have no idea where the woman went, Fugaku?"

The man between his fellows tensed when his name was called. "No, my lord… she escaped from us when we let our guard down."

"Just why did your guard come down then?" Madara ordered, his voice level despite the anger coursing through him.

Fugaku hesitates, letting his gaze fall further from his clan leader's. "She's just a human, Lord Madara, and she's pregnant. We didn't think she'd try to run in that condition…"

Madara's crimson eyes narrow at the response. Clicking his tongue, the leader turns to the vampire at Fugaku's right. "Izuna, you let this happen? This doesn't seem like you."

Izuna shook his head, looking up to Madara and staring him in the eye. "Fugaku is right though, brother… we had no way of knowing Mikoto would actually leave like she had."

His brother glares at his brother for mentioning the human's name, but otherwise does not comment. Madara glances back to Fugaku, inclining his head in a silent. "Alright then, regardless of how she got away, I want you three to find her and bring her back. She's due to deliver soon…"

Madara leaves them then, allowing the three to stand so they may go. Izuna hesitates, looking to the doorway Madara had gone through with a frown, following after the other two just before they could completely leave the room.

It was lightly raining when Izuna caught up with them outside the fortress. He glances to Fugaku and the other vampire once he was able to walk in stride with the two, heading out through the large doors to the outer walls.

"Hikaku, you said you saw which way she'd gone before alerting me?" Fugaku inquires, his eyes scanning the forest outside the walls. Hikaku nods, pointing in a vague direction of the forest. Izuna and Fugaku follow his finger to the place he was pointing, both nodding in recognition.

They take off at a run then, a crackle to the sky notifying them to a storm approaching. The rain picks up in speed just as they reach the edge of the forest, the water removing any scent Mikoto may have left behind. Fugaku huffs, looking about himself in desperation to where she could have gone. He flags his two comrades to head in opposite directions to search for the woman, moving off towards the center of the forest himself.

Three years ago, the Uchiha clan lost their biggest experiment in immortal matters. Sasori Akasuna had _somehow_ had enough energy to pull one of the daily examiners to him and make the man bite him. That bite had given Akasuna complete venom and turned the halfling into a full immortal—a completed vampire. When the clan was alerted to this, it was far too late; Akasuna had been trained since birth for fighting and with his newly acquired strength, doubled with what he'd already had, he was able to get past anyone in his way and escape.

Sasori was perhaps one of the fastest vampires any of them had ever seen—including the head vampire himself. They never found him after the escape, nor did they have any idea which way the redhead had gone.

Madara was outraged to have lost the halfling experiment. He ordered the family around the family more often than anything else, and as of one year ago, made his venom child Fugaku go out to find a human woman to bear his child.

Fugaku was disgusted that he was the one to have to mate with food. However, one was not to argue with Madara when he gave you an order, so Fugaku did as he was told. It took about a month to find Mikoto, who was traveling in the mountains near by.

Mikoto did not take kindly to being kidnapped, nor did she want to bear Fugaku's child. She was outraged that he'd even demanded she allow him to do such a thing. So, without much of an idea on how else to go about it, Fugaku took her by force.

It took two months of threatening Mikoto and taking her forcefully before she had finally become pregnant. Madara was pleased when Fugaku informed him of this, and told his venom brother Izuna and another clan member, Hikaku to watch over the human with Fugaku. She was to remain at the fortress until the abomination growing inside of her was born.

Mikoto, after all she'd been through, never acted as though she'd leave. In fact, the human seemed to want the pregnancy to move along faster; she knew that they just wanted the infant when it was born, so she'd gladly give it to them. Apparently, the human had changed her mind recently.

Fugaku huffs, the rain pouring down upon his head and making it hard to even see clearly. Of course, his sight was better than a normal human's, so he couldn't complain. Mikoto would be found soon enough; she couldn't have gotten too far, and she probably was unable to see in this downpour.

A gasping sound came from his left, alerting Fugaku to head in that direction. Upon merging past the thicket of trees, Fugaku came to a halt with what he found.

Mikoto was gasping at the base of a tree. Through the rain, he saw her pained expression and over the roar of thunder, he heard her cries.

She was giving birth to the halfling.

Kneeling beside her, Fugaku took her warm hand in his. "Mikoto, why would you run?" Mikoto screams in response. "You wanted to leave as soon as that abomination was born, so why try to run with it?"

Mikoto let's another wail at the contractions, her warm hand attempting to crush Fugaku's in the pain. Catching her breath, Mikoto attempts to look at the vampire through the rain. "I… he isn't… Itachi is—" she grunts, holding back a scream, "—Itachi is _not_ an _abomination_!"

Fugaku hesitates, another crackle of thunder sounding above them before a flash of lightning strikes as well. "Itachi…?"

"His… his _name_!" She screams the last word, her pain seeping into her words.

"You _named_ the creature? Before he was even _born_?" Fugaku questions, his face contorting in disgust.

Mikoto pants now, attempting to catch her breath to answer again. "He… he deserves one…" She winces, her hand squeezing at Fugaku's again. "Itachi isn't… isn't a disgusting rat… or anything…"

Fugaku scoffs at this, glaring down at the woman. "Yet he'll be named for a weasel?"

She chuckles and shrugs her shoulder, glancing back to the vampire. "You'll name him Itachi if you want him."

Fugaku hesitates at this, staring down at this mortal. She had guts, ordering a vampire to do something like this. "I… I have no control over that; it's up to Lord Madara."

Mikoto strikes him; though the hit had no effect over him physically, he was still shocked she'd hit him. "It's your child, take charge over him!"

He scowls at this. "You don't seem to get it, Lord Madara has charge over _everything_ in the Uchiha clan!"

"So he ordered you to rape an innocent woman just for a _baby_?" She screams back, ending with a loud cry of pain.

Fugaku waits for her screams and the roll of thunder to pass before he answers. "Mikoto, we're vampires… what you have growing inside of you is a halfling."

Mikoto stares at him, her labored pants the only sound coming from her as she clutches to her pregnant stomach.

"Your Itachi will be born as a half human and half vampire—the second one over to be recorded in immortal history." He continues, keeping his eyes on Mikoto's. "Lord Madara already had a halfling before that we tested to find out more about their kind, but he got away as a full vampire three years ago."

She gulps, a whimper escaping her before she says anything. "Itachi is… just going to be an experiment…?"

Fugaku waits, unsure if he should reply to that. Mikoto took his silence as an answer and allows herself to scream another cry of pain. He watches her, suddenly growing concerned as to when the baby would be able to be delivered.

"Now _Mikoto_, you don't need to worry about little Itachi…" Fugaku's slow heartbeat takes a moment to continue, the voice coming from behind him startling him for a second. Whipping around, he stares up at the clan leader. "He'll be raised fine and healthy until we find him to be old enough to deal with any form of experimentation—just like the last halfling before him."

Mikoto's breathing becomes harder, her eyes wide with fear at the sight of Madara. "W… what do you mean by that?"

A flash of lightning illuminates Madara's features, a small smirk upon his lips. "He'll be raised like any normal child until he's old enough. It's as simple as that, Mikoto…"

Fugaku stares up at his clan leader with confusion, obviously unaware that this was what he'd been planning. A sudden scream from Mikoto alerts him to look back to the human however, immediately reminded of why she was in pain.

"Lord Madara, she needs—"

"It's alright, Fugaku… I brought the medic with me to deliver the child." Madara replies simply, nodding to the human behind him that Fugaku had failed to notice. The mortal rushes to Mikoto then, preparing himself and the woman for the birthing.

Fugaku stands, removing Mikoto's hold on his hand. Staring down at the two humans, he watches with little interest when Madara's hand falls upon his shoulder. Looking back, Fugaku sees that the head vampire was watching the humans as well.

"When the child is born, I will take it back to the fortress. You and Izuna will take the mortals—unconscious, of course—to the nearest human village. Is that clear?" Madara doesn't remove his gaze from the two as he whispers these orders to Fugaku. The other vampire nods in reply, watching his leader with weary eyes.

Izuna approaches then, his own gaze locked with the humans before them. He takes a moment to glance to Fugaku, nodding in response that he'd heard Madara's orders, and turns his eyes back to the scene before them.

The rain never let up that night, and when the thunder rolled on, a new sound mixed into the fray within the forest—a cry of a newborn child.

The medic holds the child to himself carefully, staring in amazement to his snow white complexion. "It's a… boy… and he's unusually beautiful." Madara moves forward then, striking the man to become unconscious and taking the baby into his own arms.

He looks down to Mikoto, who lays against the tree with labored breath and stares up at the child with hope. "We will name him Itachi, as you wish human. But from this point forward, he is no longer your child." Mikoto's eyes widen, the onyx color blank of any light. She goes limp again, accepting it too easily. Madara turns to Izuna and Fugaku when she looks away from the child, his expression hard. "You know what to do."

Once Madara had disappeared from sight with the newborn, Izuna moves forward to collect the medic and Fugaku does the same with Mikoto. She shifts into his hold, her sight distant and unfeeling. He ignores this, glancing to Izuna to see if he was ready.

Izuna takes the lead out of the forest, heading in rout to the nearest mortal village he knew of. Fugaku follows after, Mikoto light as a feather in his arms.

"Fugaku…" He hums in response to her weak call, not entirely caring to what the human may want. "Take good care of our child…"

Fugaku hesitates, watching Izuna ahead of him so as to not glance to the woman in his arms. Mikoto didn't look at him either, though she waited for his answer. Fugaku sighs, taking a second to glimpse down at her. "I can't make any promises, Mikoto… Itachi is no longer our child."

Mikoto peers up at him then, her soft eyes void of emotion. "At least try…"

He scowls, glaring ahead to nothing in particular. "I…" His jaw clenches, unsure of what to say. He decides on the truth when, in the distance, the village they were heading for comes into view. "I can't do anything for Itachi, Mikoto…"


	9. Chapter 9

_**October 1336  
**__**Somewhere in Southern Holy Roman Empire  
**__**Europe**_

Kisame fell back onto the ground again, staring up at the sky. He'd need to get some more food again; maybe that little girl from the farm would pity him again.

That of course depends on if he could stay in wolf form long enough.

The change was getting easier to maintain—he'd kept the form for two hours just yesterday. But it took until now for him to be able to do it again, and the way his body had to shift to allow the different skeletal form…

It was all taking too long. Kisame needed to be able to change soon, or he'd never be able to return to Sasori. It had been six whole years and Kisame has only been able to keep his mind from turning to the wolf on the full moon. That alone took three years to master, and it was still hard to control the instincts!

He was beginning to loose hope. How was he to know Sasori was even still at the Uchiha clan—Hell, was Sasori even still _alive_ after all this time?

Kisame didn't want the answer to that. He'd rather find out by going there himself. And when he does go there, Kisame would be ready for any attack.

By the time he does go there, he'll have gained all control over his wolf side to be able to help. It will take a long time, but hopefully Sasori would be able to hold in there.

No, Sasori will hold in. Nothing could kill that stubborn man easily. Sasori was too strong for that. He'd keep telling himself that; Sasori was alive and not dieing anytime soon.

Of course, if that was a lie, Kisame wouldn't be too happy with anyone.

Grunting, he picks himself back up to try the transformation again. Taking a deep breath, Kisame prepares himself mentally for the change that was sure to be just as painful as before. Releasing the same breath, Kisame crouches onto all fours and focuses to what he wanted.

The first snap of a bone forced him to let out a groan, but he holds back on letting the pain get in his way. Another snap and movement to his skeleton was the next step, and once that was heard in his mind and out, Kisame allowed himself to smirk. The second bone to move was all he needed to know there was no going back, even if he wanted to.

Changing took far too long in Kisame's opinion, and once it was complete with his body having a whole new form, he almost collapses from the pain. He sucks it up however, panting for a moment to catch his breath again. As soon as he was able to breathe at a regular pace, the werewolf takes off in a familiar direction out of his meadow hidden within a small thicket of trees.

Moving out of the trees, Kisame sniffs at the air, looking about in his black and white vision for any sign of the little girl who lived at this farm.

"Canis…!" Kisame's ears perk at the sound, swiveling to look towards the house of which the girl probably resided. His tongue loped out of his mouth upon seeing her, smiling at him from the edge of her yard. Barking, Kisame runs towards her, nearly knocking her down in his excitement. "Canis bonum!" She says, though Kisame had no idea what she was saying.

Latin was the language of these lands then; he'd heard some Uchiha clan members speaking of this language and they mentioned these words before—at least they had mentioned 'canis' a few times.

She was holding something—bread it smells like—and as soon as Kisame sat down to stare at her, she laughs and unravels it. Again, she says something, though Kisame wasn't too sure what. Her little hand reaches up to him, the bread sitting in the middle of the cloth that had been holding the loaf. He barks, hoping she'd take it as a form of thanks, and dips his head down to eat it.

Her giggles come again, a small hand moving through his fur. Kisame nearly flinches from the contact, but restrains himself. Even with his human mind in tact, the very scent of this girl was driving his wolf instincts insane. She smells much more delectable than the bread he was eating…

He controls this urge to nip at her skin however; it was better to act like he was just an abnormally large blue dog so she wouldn't be frightened. As of right now, her offerings were all Kisame would be able to eat.

A call comes, a scream following after. The little girl says something along the lines of "Mater!" before Kisame senses another human moving towards him fairly quickly. Finishing the last of the bread in one gulp, the werewolf turns only to have a wooden stick slam his head, another yell of incoherent words coming next.

Kisame shakes his head from the hit, though it hadn't hurt. He stares at the woman who'd come at him with her now broken broom, the fear she felt easily noticeable in the air. Yet her face was hard and her words were rushed, some sounding simply like "Lupus!" and "discedo!"

He took the hint when she begun to swing the broken broom at him and pulled her daughter behind herself. Kisame whimpers from this, turning to leave as she obviously wanted. As he trudged back to the small forest, he could hear the little girl whisper faintly beneath her mother's calls, "Vale, canis…"

_**November **__**1339  
**__**Holland of Holy Roman Empire  
**__**Europe**_

He hadn't had much to eat but fish in a while. Of course, it was easier to just get his own food from the sea than to try and get food from others; three years ago with the little Latin girl and her mother was enough of a lesson to Kisame about using his wolf form to get what he needed.

Of course, despite that bust of an attempt, Kisame had continued to practice the transformations. Now he was able to hold the form for as long as he wanted. It had only taken him three more years of practicing. He still had a few things to work out with his wolf side—such as controlling his unnatural hunger for human flesh—but it was getting somewhere.

Nine years though… was it even worth it anymore? Kisame hadn't been near that part of the world in so long, he was beginning to question if the Uchiha's would be there when he got back. If _he_ was even still alive. Kisame hated that constant question; if his best friend was even there anymore.

It was to be asked however. Kisame knew he had no one of knowing if his friend was alright or not other than going and seeing himself. The truth was behind seeing it all for his own viewing pleasure, not hearing about it from another source.

Of course, he had to ask if it was still worth all this. His risk of possibly hurting himself through all these tests on his abilities, and the risk of hurting anyone who may be near by that the wolf would notice before he had… Kisame didn't like those risks, but for him… that redhead and his longtime friend…

"Sasori…" He mumbles, staring at the bank of water he sat next to. Of course, with winter coming fast, the water was a thin sheet of ice, but it probably wouldn't freeze over. Then again, Kisame didn't really know—he'd only just arrived in the upper part of Holy Roman Empire a few weeks ago. This land spoke a different language to what Kisame was used to…

Grunting to himself, Kisame stands to prep for his next change so as to move on through these lands. Lately, the change was happening much faster than before, and it was even becoming a little less painful. He was grateful to these advantages, and hoped he'd get back to Sasori with his abilities mastered much sooner than he had originally thought.

With the shift completed, Kisame sniffs at the air to find that humans were within range. The full moon was approaching—he could feel it. The way his body reacted to the scent was enough of an answer to how far along the lunar cycle the moon was. And yet…

Kisame wanted to howl in happiness—their scent was there and his instincts wanted to attack, but he himself… Kisame was easily able to hold himself back. There was no push and pull affect in his mind; it was all so settled.

He'd done it; his instincts were intact and he was in complete control to everything he does. The wolf had nothing, could do nothing… Kisame was the one in charge, not the werewolf.

Suddenly, being immortal meant nothing. He was as much a human as those ones just over that hill there, he just had something more to himself.

This was it; he'd done it. Exactly what he'd been trying to obtain; control. He was the master in this body, not that beast. Kisame was what the demons had tried to make; Kisame was the first werewolf to make himself onto the same level as those vampires.

He was still missing something though… he had no idea how to fight. At least, he had no expertise in fighting in wolf form. Normally, it was all wild instinct, and with a trained vampire as his opponent… even Sasori had been able to beat him when they play fought all those years ago.

Kisame would be killed in an instant if he went charging into the Uchiha grounds looking for the redhead. He still wasn't ready…

Growling at these thoughts, Kisame charges at the tree before him and attacks the base until the large trunk made a satisfyingly large crash when it fell. "Sasori," he thinks, staring at the black and white tree. "Wait for me…"

_**April **__**1340  
**__**London, Kingdom of England  
**__**Europe**_

Sasori stares up at the sky, the clouds blocking out even the sight of the bright stars. He hadn't really thought of where to go all those years ago, but a woman he'd met on his travels mentioned London once to him in passing. Since there was not much else for him to do, Sasori set his sights on the Kingdom of England.

The only problem was traveling by night.

Of course, the minute Sasori made it to London, he had no idea what to do. He had no money for these lands—what was it called? Pence and pound?—and the language was only vaguely different from what the Uchiha clan spoke… no, it was completely different. Still, he could speak English, but only just barely.

To make matters worse, he certainly felt out of place with his attire. The people here wore such lovely clothes, while he himself wore something he'd stolen off a man on his way through France. It was a bit tight in the pants, and a bit too long in the sleeves. Still, no one was staring at him…

"Ye okay there, boy? Lookin' a bit lost, don't ye?" Sasori nearly jumps, twisting around to look down upon an old woman with her head covered by a shawl. He stares down at her, wondering just why she'd call out to him. "Well vampire, are you alright?"

He gawks, though he held his expression to keep from showing anything of the sort. This old woman seemed aware of what he was. However, she didn't smell human. The ones around them, walking the streets and heading to their homes, didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"I… I am fine, ma'am…" He replies, turning around to face the short woman better.

She nods, the shawl never falling from her face. "I bet you're wonderin' how I knew what ye were…"

Sasori gulps, keeping his eyes on her. "Aye… I am wondering…"

"I see hit in your eyes…" At this, the shawl shifts with her movement as she looks up at him. Her face remains hidden, but Sasori could see the red of her eyes.

He doesn't flinch; it should have been obvious when she hadn't smelt of human. "So… you're a vampire as well."

She chuckles and nods. They remain standing just outside the alleyway, the mortals walking along without notice. The elder vampire seems to take a moment to think, looking to the sky beneath the shawl. "It'll be rainin' soon… we best head inside…"

Sasori nearly scoffs at this. "I have no home."

"Then come in; I have no right to shut out my own kind…" Sasori watches her turn into the alley, moving towards an open door he hadn't seen before. He follows after without a second thought. "What's your name, boy?"

He hesitates in the doorway, watching her move about the small room to light the candles. Funny, he hadn't seen any form of lighter with her. "Sasori… Akasuna." He mumbles the name, barely making it audible; she'd hear it however.

"Ah… I was wonderin' if ye might be him…" She makes a move to glance at him, but again all Sasori sees is the gleam of her crimson eyes.

"And… who are you?" He inquires, keeping his gaze locked on her form.

With a chuckle, the woman turns to fully look at him. "Do ye know about puppets, Sasori?" He shakes his head. "I can teach ye, if you would like… there's much to puppets that we vampires can do that humans cannot…"

Sasori waits, curious what she might mean and if she might explain. "I… don't understand."

"Of course ye don't; there's time for explanations another day however." She gives another chuckle, turning to exit the room.

He glances about the small area. "Wait, if ye teach me, at least tell me your name," Sasori calls after her, causing the older vampire to pause in her leave.

She glances back at him, a small smile on her lips. "My name…? It is Chiyo…" Waiting for any reaction, Chiyo watches the younger. She frowns when he doesn't seem to recognize the name. "It is… unimportant for now…" Sasori watches the mysterious woman exit.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ Okay, I changed the genre to this story from being Romance/Drama to Tragedy/Drama, since there's not a whole lot of Romance yet. There will be, but it's mostly Tragic and... they got rid of action genre a while ago... yeah... Also, according to all I could find, England during this time spoke Middle English... which is weird. As for the translations, they are from Google Translate, so the Latin may be wrong:  
Canis: dog  
Canis bonum: good dog  
Mater: mother  
Lupus: along the lines of "the wolf" or just wolf  
discedo: go away  
Vale, canis: Farewell, dog


	10. Chapter 10

_**August**__** 1344  
**__**Forest Around Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Kisame was ready. He'd been training so hard everyday while traveling to keep himself from being seen twice in the same location. Finally, not but four months ago, did he make the final break through.

He wasn't sure how he knew, but Kisame was completely able to control himself now; there was nothing left to learn. It was like when he'd reached twenty-one and knew his body was completed—he just knew he was ready.

The clan fortress was in sight; the walls as high as he had remembered while the outer field was full with werewolf slaves. Kisame scowls, remembering what it'd been like living his days out in that field.

But those days, he wasn't alone. He'd had his best friend beside him, and today Sasori would be back at his side.

"I'm coming for you, halfling…" Kisame mutters under his breath, preparing to move closer to the wall that reached the forest.

A rustle sounds beside him, alerting him to company he hadn't noticed. "Why are you looking for me?" The voice was soft, no traces of emotion to it. Startled beside himself, Kisame turns to the source.

It was a child; ten years at most, with a small body and thin wrists like any other child. His skin was flawless, like any vampires', and his eyes were pure crimson. Kisame immediately recognized what this raven haired, beautiful child was…

"You're a halfling…" He mumbles, his golden eyes widening in surprise. Sasori was the clan's test subject, yet here was new half-blood, standing right before him.

"Yes, and you are not from here." The child replies, his calm and unusual voice singing into Kisame's ears. "Why are you looking for me?"

Kisame licks his lips, unsure of why his stomach was churning—though he had a feeling it had to do with this child being here rather than Sasori. "I'm looking for the other halfling to this clan…"

The child stares at him, his crimson eyes boring into Kisame with a startling affect. "There are no other halflings in the Uchiha clan; I am the only one."

"Wha…?" He couldn't breath. What did this mean? Where was Sasori? "But, there was another… years ago. He was the test subject of the clan."

Nodding a little, the small noirette looks toward the fortress of his clan. "And I have replaced him; he disappeared before I was born."

Disappeared; translating from a child's words to an adults, that would mean… "He… he died…?" Kisame chokes, feeling his body freeze up and fall over to lean against the tree he hid behind.

The child merely shrugs. "I do not know; they told me nothing of my predecessor." Glancing back to Kisame for a moment, the boy moves a little closer. "You… smell of wolf, but your skin…"

Kisame doesn't know how to respond; this child's news of whether or not Sasori may still be alive had scared him. He wasn't sure he was even breathing right now.

"I have never heard of a blue wolf before." He continues, seeing that Kisame wasn't really paying attention. The werewolf had to wonder if the kid even cared that he wasn't listening. "It seems like a strange thing to be, with blue skin and hair."

Finally calming himself, Kisame turns a glare on the child. "What do you want?"

The boy hesitates, though he didn't seem to be afraid. More so calculating than anything. "I want to know what you are." He considers his next words for a moment before staring Kisame in the eyes. "I want to know your name."

Kisame couldn't help but look into those unfeeling crimson eyes. He gulps, unable to pull his gaze away. "Well then, I want to know your name and who you are first."

"Fair enough…" He mutters in return, glancing out of the forest to the clearing. "My name is Itachi Uchiha, eleven years old and born to the Uchiha vampire clan for experimentation as the new halfling. My blood is that of a human with little venom mixed within. My testings did not start until I was six and had full training like my predecessor had."

The pureblood was sure his jaw dropped during Itachi's detailed introduction. The boy didn't seem to have any feelings, much like Sasori had been. However, Sasori at least cared about some things. Itachi did not seem to care at all, or feel for that matter.

"Your turn, sir." Itachi states, now fully staring at Kisame with his searching crimson eyes.

Licking his lips, Kisame nods and sits upright against the tree. "My name is Kisame Hoshigaki, and I lost track of how old I am a while back… I was born to the head clan as one of their experiments on werewolves, making me a pureblood. I killed my brothers and sisters while sealed away with them, making me the only pureblood left, thus my unusual skin coloring." He smirks bitterly then, turning his eyes from the child before he contrinued on. "I befriended your predecessor, Sasori Akasuna, back at the main clan when his experimenting started. We were sent here to the Uchiha clan to work in the fields while he was to be tested further upon by the Uchiha vampires. About fifteen years ago, Sasori helped me escape from the clan and I've been traveling ever since, training myself to fight against the clan to save my friend…"

Itachi stares at Kisame, his face betraying no emotion. "I am sorry to say, but he is no longer here. You trained for nothing."

Kisame scowls, turning a glare onto the noirette. "What do you know? I trained myself to be able to change at will! I trained to control my wolf side, all to save Sasori!"

"And he is no longer here; your training does not pay off." Itachi keeps his gaze level with Kisame's, his eyes blank and dark. "I… apologize for you. You came for nothing."

"I came here to save a halfling; I just happened to find the wrong one." Kisame spits back, glaring at Itachi. "Listen kid, you need to learn what it's like to feel, or you'll never make friends."

Itachi turns away then, moving towards the clearing and leaving Kisame behind. "I do not require friends…"

"Everyone needs a friend, kid!" Kisame calls, watching the half-blood walk off. Itachi does not reply this time as he moves through the trees and out into the fields.

Kisame waits for a moment before changing his appearance back to the wolf form. Sniffing the air for any signs of an enemy, he turns to leave as well. Stopping for a moment only, he looks back at the fortress that was supposed to hold his best friend. Now, the only halfling there was a heartless child who knew nothing of emotions.

Scoffing a little, Kisame continues on his way out of the forest. With the news that Sasori was gone, Kisame found anger building inside him; he really needed to hit something now.

_**December**__** 1345  
**__**Inside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Madara stood over the bed, watching the woman with a scowl on his lips. "Why's it taking so long…? Itachi did not take as long to be born."

The medic who sat in wait at the woman's bed glances up at the Uchiha clan leader. "Not all children are born quickly, sir…"

"I need this child to be born soon, human." Madara snaps, his cold voice startling Izuna. His brother glances to the elder of the two before looking back at the woman on the bed. "What will you name the child, Izuna?"

Izuna looks to Madara in surprise at the question. "Brother, the baby is yours…"

"And you will be the one to care for it, so you can name it whatever you wish." Madara replies simply, never once turning away from the human giving birth.

Hesitating, Izuna glances back to the scene before them with a thoughtful look. "I'm not sure yet; I don't even know why we've made another halfling. Itachi's testings are giving us more than Sasori's ever had."

"We're making a new one to try a different approach, Izuna." Madara states, finally turning to his younger brother. "I want to see if the results are different if the child is isolated from the world. I want to see if it is different if the research starts immediately after birth."

Izuna nearly jumps, turning fully to the clan leader then. "M-Madara! You can't mean you intend to… it'll be just a baby, brother!"

"Yes, a baby who grows up differently from his cousin." Madara states, his words ringing in his brother's ears. "It is my child, so I can order whatever I want of him." Izuna prepares to respond when a new sound fills the room. The brothers turn back to find the baby was born while they spoke.

The medic smiles at the child in his arms. "A boy; perfectly healthy as far as I can see." He looks up at Madara and Inuza then, before frowning a little. "However, the mother…" Izuna glances to the limp form of the human woman then, before noticing that she was not breathing.

"So she died…" Madara murmurs to himself, tisking a little in thought. "Weak human, I figured it'd be as much." Waving his hand carelessly, he turns to his brother. "Take my son to the isolation chamber. We'll begin testing in a few hours, first we must clean up this mess and take the medic back to his home."

The medic stands and hands the newly cleaned baby to Izuna before awaiting orders. Izuna pauses at the door, glancing back to his leader as Madara gives out orders. He watches for a moment, finally deciding he should leave when Madara sends a glance in his direction.

Izuna stares at the still crying child within his arms, wondering just what he should name the newborn. When no name came to mind, Izuna had to wonder if he'd just simply leave the child nameless.

The scent of a human was ahead of him then, surprising Izuna for a moment before the smell became recognizable. Turning a corner, Izuna found just who it was standing in the middle of the hall.

"Itachi; shouldn't you be in bed?" Izuna inquires, smiling softly to the older halfling. Itachi didn't respond, merely stares at the bundle still crying in the older vampire's arms. "Ah, this is… your new cousin."

Moving closer, the twelve-year-old attempts to look at the baby more closely. "What is his name?"

Izuna smiles softly at Itachi, shaking his head. "Madara did not name him, and I have no ideas…" Itachi stares up at Izuna then, his crimson eyes blank as usual. "Would you like to name him, Itachi?"

He waits for an answer, but Itachi simply stares down at the bundle with no emotion. Sighing, Izuna moves to excuse himself when Itachi finally answers. "Name him Tobi."

Looking at the halfling in surprise, Izuna takes a moment to realize he hadn't imagined it. "Tobi…?"

"I like that name." Itachi confirms, glancing up at Izuna with no emotion again. "Name him Tobi."

Izuna wavers for a moment, honestly surprised that Itachi had even answered. However, he finally nods and smiles down at the emotionless weasel. "His name is Tobi, your cousin and halfling like you."

Itachi nods, glancing back to the baby. "Hello cousin Tobi, I am Itachi." The baby merely continues to sniffle, though Itachi didn't seem to mind.

After a moment, Itachi finally backs away and turns to move back down the hall. "Are you headed back to bed then, Itachi?" The half-blood nods in response, never looking back to Izuna. He smiles at the child though, watching him leave before finally moving on towards the isolation chamber.

Tobi squirms a little in his arms when they reach the heavy bolted door, but Izuna keeps his hold on the small newborn. "It'll be fine, Tobi; I'll come see you every day…"

The baby responds with a gurgling whine, finally having calmed down since being born.


	11. Chapter 11

_**June **__**1347  
**__**Outside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Itachi stares down at his feet, listening to the wolves out in the fields say hurtful things about him; yet, despite their crude statements and hurtful words, they never once threatened him. In fact, he remembered once hearing about the first halfling being fairly threatening before him, so the werewolves refused to try anything with Itachi.

He figured it had something to do with that blue-toned wolf he met three years ago. He was eleven then, and today he was turning fourteen.

Only Izuna and Madara seemed to remember though, when he was inside earlier for his testing. According to Madara, Itachi was getting a birthday treat and not going to be tested too badly; at least then he could enjoy the rest of his birthday.

It didn't seem that great though; Itachi had no one to share this day with. He'd never once met his fellow halfling and cousin, Tobi, since the day he'd named the child. Sometimes, Itachi thought about that restless new born and wondered where Tobi had gone. Never had he heard the child, nor had he seen him in the fortress walls.

The wolves would never share in his day of birth; Itachi was just going to have to sit there against this tree and do nothing for the rest of this ridiculous day.

"Why are you always alone, kid?" Itachi didn't jump; the sudden voice behind him hadn't been surprising. He'd known someone was there, and he had a feeling he knew who that was.

"Why are you always watching me, pureblood?" He counters, looking over his shoulder to the tree. Kisame was on the other side of the tree, just out of sight.

A small chuckle sounds from the spot where Kisame sat, and Itachi thought the wolf might be smiling. "Just seeing if you're anything like my old friend…"

"Well I am not, so do not bother me any longer." Itachi replies, turning back to the field before him to see if anyone saw him talking to himself.

Kisame gives a snort, a swish of wind coming from his side; Itachi imagined it must be him shaking his head. "You're too much, kid…"

"I have told you my name; why do you insist on calling me 'kid'?" He asks, glaring at the other werewolves in the field for glancing at him.

"Because you're just a kid, Itachi…" Kisame sighs, another shake of his head swishing the air about him. "You're a half-blood like him, but you're…"

"Different; I am aware." Itachi states, wanting to turn around and properly talk to Kisame. "He had something I did not."

Kisame takes a moment to respond. "What… what might that be?"

"You…" Itachi murmurs, glancing to his feet. "A friend… someone to talk to…"

A groan comes from Kisame then, followed closely by a sigh of remorse. "I'll give you that; Sasori did have me to boost his confidence and give him personality."

"I have personality." Itachi snaps calmly, wishing that he could glare properly at this pureblood.

"Yeah, you've got the personality of a log…" Kisame barks a soft laugh, scratching at his head for a moment. Itachi narrows his crimson eyes, anger bubbling in his stomach. "Hey, don't take offense; I mean, anyone would be like that if they were just an experiment to these people."

Itachi frowns, his face softening from the glare that formed. "… really?"

"Well yeah; you were formed into someone emotionless because they never gave you a real life." Kisame shifts behind the tree, Itachi going rigid at the sound. "Sure, they give you the freedom to go outside with the wolves like they did with Sasori… but these wolves are like the ones Sasori knew; the ones that feared him."

He almost turns around to see if Kisame may be alongside the tree now. "What could I possibly do to them? They are stronger…"

"No, not against a halfling. You're stronger than they are, especially if you've been trained in the past." Kisame's voice rang in Itachi's ears, bubbling inside his stomach and floating heat to his face.

Itachi glances along the outer walls then, seeing if any of the trusted wolves were watching him. After a quick scan out in the fields as well and determining that they didn't have any eye on Itachi, the halfling stands and slips behind the tree to Kisame's side, startling the seemingly slumbering wolf.

Kisame stares at the younger male as Itachi sits down, their knees brushing. Glancing down at the touching limbs, Kisame subconsciously shifts away from the child before glancing back to him. "You okay, kid?"

"Today is my birthday…" Itachi whispers, keeping his gaze on the forest around them. His red eyes shadow over in the dim light of the shading from the trees, giving them a more onyx look in color. Kisame stares at the little boy, curious to know what he wanted with giving him this information. "I am fourteen now, so stop calling me a kid."

Barking a short laugh, Kisame grins down at Itachi, who only glances in his direction. "Itachi, I've been around for a pretty long time…"

"I am still older than a child; not only that, I am mature for my age." A flash of crimson shines in his eyes then, startling Kisame when he glances in the wolf's direction once again.

"Sure you are; but you're still pretty small next to me." Kisame lets his grin grow again, moving to pat the child on the shoulder. Itachi cringes from the weight of his hand, his muscles tensing in response. Removing his large, blue hand, Kisame turns away and mutters a short apology.

Itachi remains at Kisame's side for a few more moments before standing again, picking up a rock in front of him before turning to leave. Kisame watches him, raising a brow when Itachi notices. "I have to go or they will send out a search party… if they find you, Madara will have you killed."

"How do you know that?"

"I over heard him telling his brother not too long ago about how the 'pureblood' must still be alive…" Itachi responds, glancing to the fortress out of the trees. "Will you return again?"

Kisame hesitates, keeping an eye on the child curiously. "Do you want me to?"

Itachi remains silent, watching the fields for the trusted wolves again before looking Kisame in the eye. He doesn't answer however; instead, he turns and leaves the pureblood within the thicket of trees.

Grunting, Kisame stands from the dirt floor of the forest and dusts off his barely clothed backside. Peeking between the small opening of trees, he watches the halfling walk away. Giving a soft sigh, he turns away from the location of the Uchiha clan for the fifth time that week, a small smirk on his lips.

He'd be back tomorrow…

_**October **__**1349  
**__**Somewhere deep in Black Forest  
**__**Holy Roman Empire  
**__**Europe**_

Su leaps to the next branch, grunting as he lands a bit roughly. Looking below himself, he spots Zet running between the small openings of the trees, moving in the same direction as his brother. With a chortle, Su continues on to the next nearest branch that would take him the right way.

They were racing, so to speak. Zet believed that traveling through the branches was slower than running along the forest floor, while Su believed the opposite. Besides, there was something Zet didn't know about…

Giving a sudden wild cry, Su jumps to the next branch, knowing full well that he'd miss. The sound of his brother's crazed yell stops Zet down on the forest floor, who looks up to see what was going on just in time to see his twin fall from the trees. "_SU_!" He cries, fear glazing over in his wide eyes.

Su, however, grabs hold of a flimsy branch at that moment, swinging gracefully down towards the floor of the forest and ahead of his brother, right in the clearing they were headed for. Zet stares after him the entire time, his fear turning to anger before becoming bafflement. Racing after his brother, Zet stomps into the clearing and crosses his arms. "No fair, Su!"

"Completely fair, Zet!" Su responds with a cackle, turning to grin wickedly to his twin. Opening his mouth to start bragging to his brother about what he'd just done, a look crosses Zet's face that sends any pride Su may have felt down the drain. "What is it, brother?"

Zet points to a spot in the trees behind his brother, the moonlight highlighting his features to give the fear on his face an eerie glow. "W-wolf…!" Su spins around, gasping when he sees the large, burly animal slip through the trees and slowly approach him.

Su stumbles back, trying to push the fear from his mind. Normally, he'd have whipped his knife out and attacked the threat by now, but there was something different about this wolf. It's eyes glow in the full moon's light, the size much more intimidating than any wolf that Su had ever met.

With another cry from his brother, Su shakes his head clear of the fear just before the wolf could swipe at him. Jumping out of the way just in time, Su growls menacingly at the strange wolf. The creature turns it's eyes back on Su, blinking just once before howling to the heavens. The sound was booming, as though an unknown terror to all humans was being called upon; Su winces before lunging at the beast.

A yelp came from the wolf just before it lashes out as well, it's claws just barely grazing Su's chest. The sensation of stinging rises to Su's mind before he really registers the pain, moving to strike the wolf. It jumps back, nearly barreling over Zet in the process. Catching Zet's scent, the wolf turns and opens it's jaw to snip at the weaker twin.

"Get away from Zet!" Su screams just before the teeth could dig into Zet's flesh. Zet lets out a yelp of his own when Su wrestles himself onto the large animal's back, pulling at the wolf's head to get it to let go of Zet's arm. When the monster's teeth were removed from Zet's flesh, Su pulls up on it's head to stab his knife into the throat of the beast.

The wolf jerks around though, trying to throw Su from it's back and snapping it's jaws in anger, trying to bite at Su as well. A howl comes from the wolf before Su finally plunges the knife into the throat, a whining yelp emitting from the beast before it falls in pain to the forest floor. Removing his knife quickly, Su moves to stab at the large animal once again, taking care to hit the vitals he knew of. As soon as the wolf stopped it's struggling, Su relaxes and removes his knife from his kill.

He doesn't relax for long, however—a sudden scream of pain comes from Zet, startling Su into turning to his brother in surprise. Zet sat on his knees, clutching the arm that the wolf had bitten. Su runs to his twin's side quickly, grabbing hold of him to try and calm his screaming.

Zet doesn't stop though—his screaming escalates in sound, the light of the moon shining on them both and looking as though it were burning Su's twin. Frightened, Su clutches to his brother more, attempting to shield him from the light as though it would help. Zet suddenly throws him off at that moment, startling Su even more.

It was as though Zet was shifting, the way his body muscles rippled under his skin and the echoing sounds of bones cracking resonated in Su's ears. Su sat helplessly, watching his brother as he continued to scream in agony, his body shifting in the moonlight—bones cracking and shifting beneath the covering of his skin, his skeletal form changing to something inhuman.

Desperately, Su turns to the dead wolf to see if there were answers in it's corps, only to find a naked man in it's place. Shuddering at the sight, Su stares in horror at the sight; something had gotten to this man-wolf before he had—his entire lower half was scarred and ripped apart, something the fur had concealed from sight when the man had been a wolf.

A ripping sound comes from Zet then, urging his brother to look back, though he didn't want to. The bit of cloth that had once covered Zet's manhood was now ripped to shreds, and hair was growing rapidly in its place. Su watches as the hair grew over his newly shifted form, the bones that had once not been so defined poking to the surface of Zet's stretched skin. Su shivers as he watches, his twin's face distorting in length and forming a snout like a wolf's.

Su shivers when Zet lets a howl break from his lips, echoing around the clearing and mixing in his screams. The sounds of shifting and cracking bones finally stops when wolf ears grow at the top of Zet's newly formed head, the howl still coming even after the screams had faded.

Zet was a wolf. His brother was a wolf and Su couldn't do anything to stop that painful transformation. He'd witnessed his brother in excruciating pain and he could do nothing about it. "Z-Zet… brother…" Su chokes, his voice barely above a whisper as his gaze blurs in tears.

The howl finally ends, Zet's snout twisting about as he sniffs the air. Patting at the dirt, he lets his paws dig a bit before Su finally catches his attention. Zet turns on him then, his eyes glowing bright and golden in the light of the moon. Immediately, his jowls lift when he locks his sight onto Su, who gulps in fear.

He'd let this happen to his brother. He may have fought that other man-wolf, but Su wasn't about to fight his twin brother. Zet was all he ever cared about, and he just had to witness him go through a painful transformation. Now Zet was a mindless wolf looking to _him_ as his first prey…

Dropping his hunting knife, Su opens his arms wife. He'd let his brother tear him apart then; and even if Zet didn't, at least his bite might do the same to Su as it did to Zet from that man-wolf's bite. Besides, Su would gladly accept death if it was from the hand of his brother. He'd even accept a painful change and life as a mindless beast.

Either way, it was Zet's choice. Su's life was now in the hands—or rather paws—of the wolf now charging at him.

_**April **__**1350  
**__**Outside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Kisame glances to the other tree, watching Itachi pick at the water grass and the bit of clovers growing there.

Itachi had grown rather impressively for having been so short three years before. Then again, the child was now a young man of sixteen years—seventeen in two months. Kisame had to remind himself that the boy wasn't so young anymore.

Especially since he'd gained such… _perverse_ thoughts about the Uchiha born.

He didn't even know where they had come from; was it simply because Kisame never really knew of such things in his life before? Was it because, even though he'd been alive for so long, he was still what they called a virgin? Perhaps it was because Itachi was the only contact he'd had in years.

Then again, he'd always been close to Sasori, and even during the change his body went through, he never felt anything for the redhead. Nothing like this anyway…

Itachi was far too young though—he was still just a boy next to Kisame. He was getting older every year, but all Kisame could see was someone far younger than he. Sure, Kisame had stopped aging years ago, but Itachi would continue to age. Itachi would continue to grow.

It was dirty, what he felt. He'd heard about it on his travels; what he was feeling was sinful. What that meant exactly, Kisame wasn't really sure. He didn't really pay attention when trying to remain hidden outside of villages. Being blue didn't make it easy for Kisame to fit in with humans.

Still, what he was feeling… how dirty it may be wasn't compared to how he felt when Itachi was back in the sight of the trusted wolves—when Kisame's days with Itachi ended, the feeling of loneliness began to grow. He'd want Itachi to return for another day, to see the emotionless weasel once again.

What was that feeling? Why did he long to see him so often, and feel so happy when he did see Itachi?

Thinking more about these strange and unfamiliar feelings, Kisame didn't take notice to the Uchiha standing and crossing the very small clearing to leave again. He did however hear the usual question.

"Will you return again?"

Kisame gives a toothy grin, nodding slightly. "Be safe, Itachi…"

Itachi hums, turning to continue on his way out of the clearing. The minute he disappears, the familiar feeling of longing bubbles into Kisame's chest, pulling at his heartstrings and…

He wasn't sure. Why did he feel this way? What was the halfling doing to him?

Perhaps it was—no, that was ridiculous. It couldn't be that; he was immortal, a being that didn't hold onto such silly things.

But it must have been, because just simply thinking it was enough to make his heart race. Perhaps it would be different when he said it out loud. Just to test how it felt… "I…"

One word and his heart was pounding.

"I'm in love…"

His heart was going crazy at these words, but his mind was completely blank to the term.


	12. Chapter 12

_**August **__**1357  
**__**Outside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

Itachi glances over his shoulder, looking back to his family's fortress. The moon hung over the large building, it's glow only half of what it had been a few nights ago when the wolves were thrashing about the grounds. Turning back towards the forest, he hurries his pace and dashes for the cover of the trees.

Just scarcely did the scent reach him before the sight of his blue friend had as well, sending a jolt of eagerness he wasn't consciously aware of down his spine. "You came…"

Kisame smirks, his spark canines seeming to glow in the light that was hardly shining through the canopy above. "Just as you asked, kid."

"I am no longer a child, Kisame." Itachi mutters, careful to hide emotion from this man as he snickers from the halfling's usual response. "I have a request for you…"

The smirk turns into the toothy grin at once, Kisame's eyebrow arching in wonder. "Do you?"

Holding back an urge to gulp, Itachi inches closer to his companion. "It is something I have been meaning to ask of you." Kisame's smile falters only a fraction of a second when the noirette is only just barely touching him. "I would like if you helped me escape this place."

Kisame's grin completely disappears at this, his skin paling at the thought. "What…?"

Itachi had been thinking about it for years now; Kisame had mentioned getting help from his old friend to get out of the Uchiha clan's hold, so why couldn't he leave as well? It was simple enough to him.

"They have been leaving me be for a while and—"

"I'm not stealing you from a clan that potentially _killed_ my first friend, Itachi." Kisame snaps, his color returning to his face. "I'm sorry, but I'm not—"

"Save me," Itachi breaths, pushing boundaries that he knew Kisame was putting up for whatever reason and shoving his face into the large, warm chest of the beast before him. The pureblood goes rigid at the contact, but remains silent. "I want to escape with you…"

For whatever reason, Itachi knew that saying something like this would help his chances in convincing Kisame to take him away. He'd always wanted to leave the Uchiha clan, had wanted to see the world that his only friend knew beyond the forest they shared. He was special to Kisame—for reasons Itachi could never understand, but he was important to the half-blood as well.

"Take me with you when you leave…"

Kisame pulse is loud in his chest beside Itachi's ear; the beats were frantic and fairly startling to the born vampire, though he figures it to be normal of such a warm creature like a werewolf. The blue-toned man hesitates before reaching out, pulling Itachi closer to him and catching the halfling off guard.

Was this… a hug?

"I don't want to harm you…" Kisame murmurs into Itachi's hair, his breathing calm compared to the frantic beats in his chest. Itachi waits, biting at his bottom lip in worry that the pureblood may actually deny him the chance. "If you want to leave with me… I suppose I can't stop you…"

Itachi hitches his breath, momentarily shocked. Was he really going to—?

A snap of a twig brought him back to reality. Itachi pulls away from Kisame, spinning around to the source of the noise, prepared for an attack.

"Calm yourself, Itachi…" A voice softly calls from the darkness beyond their clearing. Itachi controls his facial expression, holding in the surprise he was feeling upon hearing Izuna's voice. "I only followed you here to be sure you weren't getting into trouble."

Itachi remains rigid. Izuna was kinder to Itachi than any of the other vampires, but the man was loyal to his brother; Madara was not a kind being in the least. If someone was going against Madara, then Izuna would do what he requested surely.

Izuna gives him a small smile as he approaches however, glancing to Kisame momentarily. "I see you found the pureblood all on your own…"

Itachi remains rigid.

"Is he your lover?" Izuna goes on, giving Itachi a look that was untranslatable to the younger vampire. The halfling nearly twitches an eyebrow in question, something the elder undoubtedly notices. "The way he held you suggested this, of course…"

Itachi remains rigid, though he gulps slowly while storing this information away for another time. He didn't need to think of that right now; Izuna had caught him red handed in trying to escape.

Izuna sighs, looking to the long grass tickling at their ankles in the light breeze that weaves it's way between the trees. "If you leave, who will Tobi get to spend time with?"

Itachi doesn't take the bait; Tobi and he had not met a single time since the cold night in December just over a decade ago. Remaining silent, Itachi begins to shift ever so slightly to prepare for anything that may come.

"Ah, you're right of course; Tobi's in isolation until he proves himself to my brother." Izuna amends, nodding slightly as though Itachi had actually said his thoughts aloud. He didn't of course; Itachi wasn't stupid enough to say anything in this incriminating moment. Again, he stores this information away to mull over another time.

They all remain silent after this however, no one moving from their places in the clearing. Kisame's heartbeat rang in Itachi's ear as though he were still pressed up against the werewolf's chest. Izuna is as rigid as the half-blood, both of them watching one another and waiting for either to make a move.

Instead, a shift in the air resonates behind Itachi, alerting him to Kisame's change in form. Izuna's eyes widen in shock at the sight, Itachi turning just slightly to catch a glimpse of the pureblood's second form.

The fur along the wolf's back is on end, just slightly quivering with Kisame's low growl of warning to Izuna. His eyes were shining gold despite the shadow of the trees overhead, the pupils contracted as he focuses on the vampire. Itachi looks back, waiting for Izuna to do something.

He looks to the sky however, confusion evident in his crimson eyes. "How can he…?" The question was left abandoned instead, the vampire looking back to the werewolf and half-blood.

Kisame moves just slightly forward, winding around Itachi's right side to stand a little closer to Izuna. Itachi doesn't move with him, trying to remain calm within this situation—Kisame in wolf form was just slightly shorter than Itachi, and the venom within his veins was itching from being so close to a wolf.

Izuna takes a step back, staring wearily at Kisame. "How can you stand being in the presence of a pureblood, Itachi?"

For a moment, Itachi almost let his silence drop to ask what he meant. He pulls it right back though, tensing only a little. Izuna must feel the sensation in his venom as well.

A few minutes pass, none of them moving again, all just waiting for the first move to come. Izuna and Itachi kept their eyes on each other, Kisame watching the full-venom vampire while holding a long, low growl to remind them he was still there as well.

Leaves shuffle around the clearing, little animals playing in the small light of the moon, the three men within the area ignoring them.

Itachi's body began to ache from lack of doing anything, his human side beginning to protest from standing still for so long. He was preparing to do something—anything to get out of there with his friend in one piece. Izuna would have to be taken out however and he hadn't thought of any way to do this.

Kisame suddenly turns, his growl louder and his stance low as he searches for something beyond the trees around them. Itachi takes in a deep breath, glancing to the darkness as well while Izuna continues to watch him.

"This is certainly… interesting, Izuna." The man in question jerks his attention to the darkness along the clearing, Itachi scowling at the voice; Kisame seems to shift even lower to the forest floor as though preparing to strike. "You find my little experiment _and_ the missing pureblood in one night."

Itachi's eyes search the shadows for him, but Madara was well hidden from sight. Izuna stays put, though he looks into the dark in search for his brother as well. Kisame's growling goes soft again, his snout twitching as he sniffs the air, one of his ears standing to hear better.

He almost missed it happen—one second, the blue wolf was on his right, growling at darkness, the next Kisame was turned around and launching himself at Madara, who had somehow gotten around the clearing to attack Itachi from the left. Falling back, Itachi watches Kisame take Madara to the ground, snarling and biting wildly at the vampire. Izuna watches for only a beat before jumping into help his brother fight off the large canine.

Nervous of what the outcome of this fight could possibly be, Itachi pulls himself to his feet, hoping to be able to find the right opening and help his friend. Sadly, his human senses seemed to become a sudden handicap for him for the first time ever, making the motions of the three look blurred. He couldn't even tell who had the upper-hand in this fight!

A breeze of the wind shifts the canopies above them, beams of the moonlight shining down upon the tussle and—at that exact moment—Itachi was able to see them all so clearly. Just as the light glows around the group, Madara brings down his hand and slashes deep into Kisame's chest, the wolf yelping in pain before he falls.

Itachi freezes, his pupils dilating in fear that swept through so quickly he couldn't even throw it off. The blue werewolf falls to the ground in a heap before Madara turns towards the youngest male in the clearing. The wind stops, it's catch on the trees' branches subsiding and drowning the clearing in darkness again. All Itachi can see for a second is the form of Madara coming at him and the red glow in the head vampire's eyes.

Madara never reaches Itachi though, Izuna's call for his brother being the only warning before some light slinks in again and a blue blur takes Itachi's attacker down. Pushing away his silly fear, Itachi watches Kisame rip into Madara's shoulder and hears the flesh being torn apart from the body. Again, Kisame seems to blur into nothing but blue as he leaps from Madara and towards Itachi, bucking his head into the halfling's stomach and tossing him over his body to land onto his back. Clinging to Kisame's fur without a second thought, Itachi glances up to the clearing to see if Madara would live.

His breath catches in his throat when he sees the elder stand and watches them leave, Kisame's pace quickening until Itachi could no longer see either vampire. Twisting carefully around, Itachi grabs for the fur around Kisame's neck and pulls himself up to lean along the wolf's spine instead, riding him as though he were a small horse.

Kisame runs through the trees swiftly, turning at the exact moments he'd need to and dodging around obstacles expertly. It was only when the trees thinned out and the moonlight was a little brighter did Itachi realize he was really leaving the Uchiha clan with Kisame.

He was finally going to see the rest of the world outside of that fortress.

_**December **__**1359  
**__**Inside Uchiha Clan Fortress  
**__**Undisclosed Location  
**__**Europe**_

It was always dark when he woke up. It was always cold as well, and very damp. His body always ached and he knew it would always feel so draining to sleep. The man with a nice face—he always had a nicer look than the others with how his lips curled softer than everyone else's—always said he would feel better if he slept. However, the man—Izuna, he thinks is his name—was wrong and he never felt anything but the aches in his body.

He figured it was because he could never pull himself up. At least, not up and over to that thing in the corner—a bed, maybe? His memory for what things were called wasn't very good.

Madara—he remembers this one well; if he didn't, he'd be punished—always told him he was good. Something about him was better than something else—he was a… a good boy.

Izuna tells him he has a name as well—something he was called, but he couldn't remember this word well either. Experiment? It was a long name, but if that was it… No, no; that wasn't it. Good boy? Madara calls him this a lot. Izuna never calls him this though, so that must not be it. Toe… toe what?

"Tobi…?" A soft voice calls, breaking his thoughts. He jerks a little, surprised to hear anything at all—was the room answering his question? It had to be, because "Tobi" sounded right!

"Yes…" He answers just as soft, nodding a little. That was the one, he was called Tobi. "Tobi it is…"

A light enters the room, a warm and gentle hand grasping his shoulder—it tingled and hurt just a bit from this touch. "Why are you on the floor, Tobi?"

"Tobi… not move…" He answers, trying to look at the source of this touch before he is pushed and pulled upright.

Izuna appears in his sight, his crimson eyes sad. "You're a mess, Tobi… here, I'll help you to your bed."

Nodding because that was all he could do, Tobi leans into Izuna's hold as the older man pulls him up and over to the thing in the corner. Collapsing into the soft feel of this bed, Tobi gives a grunt, his throat burning at any effort to speak.

Izuna sighs, pulling Tobi up again and pouring water into his mouth. "Drink, Tobi, then tell me where it hurts."

Licking at the water like an animal, Tobi gulps up as much as he can, most of the liquid dribbling down his body instead of going into his mouth. When he finishes, he pulls away and says that everywhere hurts.

"So, he can speak." Izuna jumps and turns to the door, Tobi looking as well. He folds a little into himself at the sight of Madara, shivering as the room seems to because even colder.

Izuna stands, tilting his head to his brother. "Madara, is there something you need? Tobi doesn't have anything scheduled today in the testing, so…"

"Of course he doesn't, brother. I'm no fool, I know what today is." Madara responds, his voice sharp. Tobi droops lower into himself, his eyes on remaining on his legs. "Boy, look at me."

Tobi was a good boy, and Madara liked to acknowledge this, so he turns to the scary man and stares right into those red eyes. Madara smirks at the obedience this small halfling displayed and moved closer to the experiment.

"Do you know what day it is?" Tobi shakes his head, his dark eyes on Madara's. "Today, you turn fourteen years of age; happy birthday, child." Tobi feels a twitch in the corner of his lips, though he doesn't know what it is. "Is there anything you'd like for your birthday?"

Feeling confused, Tobi keeps his eyes to Madara before looking at Izuna for help. The other man only smiles a little, nodding to Tobi in encouragement. Turning back to Madara, Tobi shakes his head.

Madara is taken-aback by this. "Nothing at all? You don't want anything?" Again, Tobi shakes his head, dropping his onyx eyes to his lap once more. Madara chuckles, the sound ominous to the boy and causing Tobi to shrink into himself once more. "Izuna, you pick something for the boy then. You know him best."

Izuna opens his mouth, stopping himself to think for a moment. Watching Tobi, Izuna waits for any sign of what to give the child before it hits him. "Well brother, I… I believe that, since Tobi has been so great these fourteen years…"

"That he has; a very good boy." Tobi's ear twitches at this, his body relaxing from the praise. "What do you think then, Izuna?"

"Perhaps…" Izuna hesitates, Madara staring at him in question. "Perhaps Tobi has proved himself time and again that he would _never_ go against your word?"

Madara thinks about this for a moment, nodding a little. "He is a good boy…" Tobi turns his eyes back to Madara, confusion filling them once again. "Boy, if I were to allow you to leave this room whenever you felt like it, would you always return when called for?"

Tobi stares at Madara, confusion still filling him.

"I mean to say, you cannot leave the Uchiha fortress grounds without anyone at your side, but you may leave this room as you wish. Do you understand?" Though he still appeared confused, Tobi nods in answer and looks to Izuna. Madara nods to his brother, turning to leave. "Show him around, Izuna, and remind him that he cannot leave the fortress."

Izuna waits for Madara to leave completely before moving to Tobi's side again. "Do you really understand, Tobi? Do you want me to explain further?" Tobi nods, staring intently at Izuna. "Madara is letting you leave the room; you can go outside if you want to now! Just don't go into the forest outside, okay?"

Tobi hesitates before nodding. "This is… good?"

"Very good, Tobi!" Izuna replies, smiling brightly. "You should be happy! I'll show you everything and explain anything you don't understand, alright?"

Nodding again, Tobi watches the nice man talk some more before he is pulled—painfully—to his feet and shown around the fortress. Beyond the small holes in the wall—windows, Izuna says, though they are normally covered by cloth to protect them from "sunlight"—Tobi sees the world for the first time, and finds himself anxious to go out there.


	13. Chapter 13

**_A/N:_** _It's been a while, huh? Well, I've been busy. BUT today I got on here and read some of the older reviews and just thought "I really need to update..." So here you go :)_

* * *

_**May **__**1364  
**__**Location Uncertain  
**__**Europe**_

__Itachi stares into the water, the lids of his eyes growing heavy with each passing moment. The cool river soaks his feet, small fish swimming past without notice.

Neither he nor his companion knew their location at this moment, but Itachi didn't really care. Years had passed since they left the Uchiha fortress, and during that time, Itachi aged. He was at least thirty—the time passed being uncertain, considering they only had the seasons to go by—and though he was still considerably smaller than Kisame, Itachi… he was definitely not a child anymore.

Kisame, at the moment, was supposed to be getting something for the two of them to eat. Itachi wrinkles his nose, thinking of the squirrels they'd been eating. It wasn't exactly enough to eat, especially since they were two grown men.

The water continues to rush around Itachi's ankles, the sun low in the sky. Itachi thinks back to the night before, trying to remember what part of the cycle they were on for the moon phases. While Kisame had gained control of his transformations, the pull of the full moon still had some control over the pureblood. Kisame fought it every time, but there were times Itachi had to hide in a tree for the night just to be safe.

It wasn't easy, traveling with Kisame like this. Sometimes, the venom within his bloodstream would scream for blood of a human, and Itachi had only drank from a handful of humans in the years he'd spent with Kisame.

The last time had been Itachi's breaking point—what he'd done in that village, and to whom it was…

_The blood was thundering, her pulse quickening_…

"_Please… don't…" She pleads with him, her eyes full of fear when the fangs appear._

_He doesn't hesitate to take her down, leaning over the woman._

Itachi scowls at the memory, trying to block it from coming back.

_Her husband had come home, attacking him just before he could sink his fangs into her throat._

_It didn't take long to tear the man limb from limb however, licking the blood from his fingers._

_She was screaming now, trying to force her way through the wall. He was impressed she hadn't tried to run…_

"_Why haven't you tried running?" He asks over her sobs, startling her. She stares for a moment, shaking in fear._

"_I've… dealt with vampires before…"_

He shakes his head, hoping it'll stop if he does. Why hadn't he realized…?

_He was on her again, preparing to drink from her now. She continues to cry, her onyx eyes wide in fear._

"_Please, I have a son…!"_

"_That won't stop me…"_

_The first bite causes her to loose her breath, her pulsing blood flowing immediately into his mouth. Something was familiar about this blood…_

_She was laughing when he pulls back, the last of her blood barely keeping her alive. He stares for a moment, a question to his eyes._

"_Ever since I had that baby, I always knew I'd be killed by your kind…"_

Itachi clutches his head, trying to will the thoughts away.

"_What do you mean?" He didn't really care, but something about what she'd said._

_The woman stares at him with dead eyes, though she continues her shortening breathing._

"_I had a son… his father was a vampire…" His heart suddenly pounds once, reminding him that he was half-human. "His name… was Itachi…"_

The worst of it all was coming then, and Itachi tried to stop the memories before they came.

_Itachi's heart continues to pound now, his stomach full of her blood as it begins to flow through his veins. Her blood… this was his mother._

_She dies then, her last breath a choking sob as something catches her eye. A word is on her lips, but Itachi cannot catch what it is._

"_Mommy…!" A small voice calls, alerting Itachi to another in the room._

_A small boy stands at the door, his onyx eyes wide in fear as he stares at the monster who killed his mother._

_Itachi stares back, the word she whispered suddenly reaching him._

"_Sasuke…"_

"—chi… Itachi…!" Itachi jerks, his crimson eyes wide as he stares at the man over him.

Kisame stares back, his brows knit in concern. "Were you remembering your mother again?"

Itachi felt the large hands before he registered Kisame was wiping something from his eyes; he'd begun to cry. "I… had a brother…"

"I know, 'Tachi…" Kisame murmurs, frowning sadly at the half-blood.

From what he could remember, that had happened five seasons ago. Itachi doesn't remember leaving the boy behind, but he was sure that he'd left his human brother alive. All he could hope for was that he'd never see him again.

The sight of his blue companion had reminded Itachi of his original thoughts. "Whats the phase tonight?"

Kisame frowns, sighing heavily. "Full moon…"

Itachi nods as well, all conversation ending with that simple statement. Sure that the half-blood was fine now, Kisame stands to skin the animals he'd caught. Itachi remains by the river, the chill of the water no longer welcoming.

_**That night…**_

Itachi watches the wolf from his perch in the tree, knowing very well he wouldn't be sleeping this night. The full moon was bright in the sky, it's light making Kisame howl every few minutes and, from what Itachi could tell, holding back his human mind.

Kisame circles the tree Itachi is within, snarling up at the Uchiha every now and again. Itachi supposes the wolf could smell it's enemy on Itachi, or at least it's prey. He was technically both…

The blue wolf finally sits a few feet away from the base of the tree, the golden eyes staring up at Itachi for a moment. He stares in return, wondering whether or not his crimson eyes glowed in the light as Kisame's does.

It happens too quickly for him to process the danger—Kisame leans back on his haunches before springing up and forward, his powerful jaw and razor sharp teeth embedding into Itachi's left leg that hung precariously from the tree. Screaming from the pain, Itachi attempts to save himself from falling, grasping the tree and feeling Kisame's teeth scrape down the length of his shin before the wolf falls.

His breath catches as he pulls himself together. Itachi groans, pulling himself up into a higher branch, hopefully well out of the wolf's reach. Panting, he inspects the wound on his leg, hissing and groaning when he pokes at it to assess the damage. The first thought he has is that it was just a heavy cut that would heal in time, but the minute it begins to _burn_, Itachi knows it won't be doing much anytime soon.

The frantic pumping of his veins is the first thing Itachi notes, the second being the flare of a burn throughout his whole being. Screaming, Itachi braces himself in the tree, watching Kisame pace around bellow before another wave of fire engulfs his bloodstream.

It takes another moment of this pain before Itachi wonders if he'll die from this bite. The second he thinks this however, a twinge in his body alerts him to something else. First, it's barely audible over the pulsing of his temple, but then the resounding _crack_ of his bones brings on a whole new level of pain.

Itachi screams out again, his body twisting in ways it had never before gone. Digging his fingers into the trunk of the tree, Itachi attempts to remain away from his attacker despite how gravity was pulling on his burning, aching body.

His joints twist and the burn builds up again, his shouts cutting into his throat until he can't make another sound. The front of his face aches before it bursts forward, the snout startling Itachi before his hair covers everything.

Suddenly, Kisame howls and it sounds so lovely that Itachi wishes to join him. Before he can even question why that is, everything goes dark and Itachi can't remember anything.

_**The next day…**_

When his mind awakens again, he wishes to go back to unconsciousness. _Everything_ was protesting, and Itachi didn't want to move even an inch. He groans, and even that little noise causes his throat to burn. Itachi hesitates from doing anything, hoping the pain would all go away.

"That first transformation is always the worse…" A soft voice contends beside him, and his sluggish mind takes a while to register it was Kisame. The way he'd said it was completely unlike the pureblood however, and Itachi wants to look at him to figure out why he sounded so upset.

The light of the sun burns at first, but Itachi fights the pain merely to see Kisame. The werewolf is sitting along side him, his face drawn and eyes narrowed in anger. Itachi stares for a moment as he takes it all in, watching Kisame to see what else he'd say.

A sigh is the first thing he says and the anger golden eyes lock onto Itachi's, shifting to that of sadness. "I'm so sorry, Itachi…" Kisame shakes his head, groaning as he drops his head into his hands. "I don't even understand how this could have happened…"

Itachi tries to understand, but all he can truly here is this insistent beating sound within his head. It takes a moment for Itachi to recognize the sound, and when he does, none of it makes sense. He'd never heard his heartbeat so strongly before…

Kisame finally looks at him from between his large fingers. "It doesn't make sense… but somehow, I turned you…"

Again, his sluggish mind takes a while to register what Kisame means. When it finally hits him, Itachi can do nothing but stare.

He was a werewolf.

_**March **__**1366  
**__**Location Uncertain  
**__**Europe**_

Kisame sighs, shaking his head. "I think that's enough for today…"

Itachi grunt, turning to get as far from the pureblood as he possibly could. Every day it seemed Kisame was training him to gain control of something Itachi knew he was incapable of doing—his werewolf instincts were fairly… off. So to expect him to be able to transform outside the full moon, not to mention keep his mind…

He didn't think it could be done. Kisame was able to do so because he'd always been a wolf. Maybe it was just something purebloods could accomplish, but not the other werewolves. Itachi knew he had no way of ever doing this.

Sinking into the riverbank, Itachi sighs. He listens to the sound of the forest about him, the sunlight warming his skin when he lays back to rest.

It was exhausting work, trying to gain control of something Kisame had. Sometimes Itachi wonders just how long it had taken his friend to do so, but when he begins to question it, he doesn't want to know. Not really at least; if he did, Itachi would compare himself to the wolf and if Kisame could do it much faster than him… well, it wasn't a competition at least. Still, Kisame acted as though he expects Itachi to get it quickly.

He doesn't though; not once has he even gained the ability to pop his joints into starting the transformation. Itachi groans, shaking his head to clear the thoughts.

In the silence that follows, Itachi relaxes and attempts to let himself get some sleep. With his mind blank, the sensation begins to take over when a scent plays around him.

Snapping awake, Itachi bolts upright and looks around. The scent was too familiar for him to be comfortable anymore, so he stands, walking through the water towards the other side of the bank. Climbing from the river, Itachi follows his nose.

It was strange how his heightened senses were still a part of him—Kisame had said he could only smell so much in human form, and his hearing was even embarrassing. So Itachi had to question sometimes whether the venom was truly gone from his system…

His thoughts all but disappear when he reaches the source of the smell. Itachi stands frozen within the thick of trees, staring at the gore in this clearing.

There weren't many—perhaps a half dozen bodies at most—but the amount of blood on the ground was enough to make even a human cringe.

The sight sent something tingling through Itachi and he couldn't describe the feeling. He didn't even know he was moving before he noticed the blood on his hands, in his mouth…

Gasping, Itachi throws himself back, staring in horror of it all. He didn't need blood anymore, not as a werewolf. In fact, this didn't even taste like he remembered—it was metallic and bitter, not the sweet taste of different blood types he remembered drinking. So why would he…?

Instinct. It had to be his birth instinct that drove him to attempt drinking this blood. He releases a shuddering breath before standing, walking backwards until the sight was gone, and when it was, he ran for the river again.

Itachi leaps into the river, still shaking from the feeling. He'd drank from so many victims before, and yet the first time he tastes blood without needing it… the very thought disgusts him. Still, he remembered it all too well. The sweet tang of gore from a human's bloodstream…

Breathing fresh air deeply, Itachi attempts to push the thoughts of blood from his mind. He didn't need to go back there—he was werewolf now, the full moon being enough of a reminder to this. Itachi didn't need the instinct to drink blood hanging over him as well.


End file.
